Axiomatic
by clutzcargo
Summary: Life wasn't easy, friends and dreams dying hand in hand. Then you end up where you'd least expect to be. Second chances; rare, third chances; unheard of. Sometimes, new strength is all you need to try again. This is the story of a third chance. ItachixOC
1. Immersion

Axiomatic

Chapter One: Immersion

**Legal Disclaimer:**

**I do not own anything pertaining exclusively to the Naruto manga (or adapted anime form) by Kishimoto. **

**However, all original characters, jutsu, places, etc., belong to me.**

* * *

With the wind stirring verdant leaves and sun shining pleasantly down upon the village of Konohagakure in the heart of the land of Fire, Hinome used the back of her hand to wipe away the hair plastered to her sweat coated brow in the afternoon heat. The simple action caused a small streak of dirt to be smudged across her forehead from the skin on skin contact. However, it went unnoticed as she basked in the heavy breathing and tensed muscles only a good session of sparring could bring. Opposite her, Neji stood with a small smirk that portrayed his self satisfaction, his chest heaving just as heavily than her own. "Stalemate…You've improved." The Hyuuga noted, causing the young woman's smile to grow. "Thank you… Tanaka-san and I have been training every other night or so." She replied, body mimicking the ANBU's posture as he relaxed his stance.

"You never know… maybe I'll take my spot back soon." The female teased. But, it very far from serious. After volunteering to give up her position as Captain about a year ago, everyone knew Hinome didn't want that spot back again. At least not as long as it entailed that much responsibility for the lives of others. It simply didn't appeal to her anymore.

Neji let out a muted snort in response to her comment. "From now on you'll always be an Assistant Captain." he replied, a faint smirk again forming on his lips. One wouldn't normally think the Hyuuga's unique brand of teasing to be humorous, but, Hinome knew he hadn't meant to be insulting… mostly.

She had a few more superficial injuries than he was sporting, which was to be expected, but she was proud to have left a blooming bruise on the right side of his jaw, along with a possible sprain in his left wrist and the hairline slice on his cheekbone. It was a simple Taijutsu sparring match that allowed them to use only one kunai and no chakra, despite it being an improbable scenario in battle.

That blade of Neji's was what produced the small nick just above her brow, along with the gash down her outer forearm and slightly shallower cut on her right bicep. Aside from the blade wound, she was sure she'd have a bruise on the back of her shoulder and probably one on her side as well, and wherever else she'd been hit without taking notice during their intense session.

Following their match up, the young woman used a medical technique she was highly familiar with to help rid the color of the bruise from his face, along with the small cuts, and reduce the sprain so it could heal by itself over the next day or so. No use healing it all the way if he wasn't going out on any missions for a couple days. After all, one couldn't miss their own wedding, could they? The 19 year old bid his sparring partner goodbye and, after promising Hinome he'd give Tenten her regards, dismissed himself from the training grounds. The young First Platoon Assistant Captain chuckled softly and followed suit, soon beginning her short walk home through a maze of back alleys that lead away from the training grounds.

Arriving at her apartment in a sector rather estranged from many other shinobi, Hinome removed her shoes and placed them beside the door before shuffling through the living room to the small bathroom down the hall. One glimpse at herself in the mirror caused her to crinkle her nose in distaste.

'_I look like Hell…'_

Her face was smudged with mud and blood, and a layer of sweat and dust coated her neck and shoulders effectively impersonating a solid tan. After being a kunoichi for around nine years, she had grown rather accustomed to the uncomfortable stickiness, though feeling like you've just taken a dirt bath isn't something one ever comes to appreciate. Her first order of business was ridding herself of the cuts that littered her skin, just to make sure they wouldn't scar and starting with the one that was causing blood to run down into her left eye. Afterwards, she peeled off the shirt that clung to her like a second skin from sweat and twisted a bit to look at her back and indeed found a not-very-inconspicuous bruise had formed on her ribs just below her shoulder blade. She quickly healed the mark past the point of being noticeable before moving on to bruise that'd formed on her side from one of Neji's back-handed strikes.

Hinome sighed and met her own eyes in the mirror. Pale powder blue irises stared back at her, a thin ring of sky blue separating the iris from the sclera; the same eyes she'd been seeing for as long as she could remember. She managed a faint smile before stripping down and pulling her hair from the simple no-nonsense ponytail it'd been scraped back into shortly before the start of her sparring session. Her hair stuck out at odd angles from its quickly-arranged state, but she didn't waste any further time examining her grime-coated appearance and stepped in the shower to rid her body of the sweat induced stickiness.

Making sure to scrub her hair and body thoroughly, Hinome watched the water run brown for several minutes until it became clear and her body was free from dirt and the smell of well-earned sweat had faded. Turning off the faucets and wrapping herself in a towel, she began humming as she once again made her way to the sink and wiped away a small spot of condensation from the oval mirror to reassess her appearance. The same clear blue eyes stared back at her, but a shock of fiery strawberry-blonde hair sat in a flared pixie-cut around her head like a copper halo, making her pale skin and narrow bone structure that much more prominent. No wonder she'd always been called a walking contrast, inside and out. It was a strange combination to say the least, and Hinome often found it comical how her hair stuck out just about as bad as the orange pants and jacket Naruto had worn through his Academy and Genin days.

A soft chuckle escaped her pale lips before she tossed her clothing in the small laundry basket in the corner of her bathroom and headed back to her bedroom to get a fresh change of clothing. Her shift started at the hospital in around an hour and in all honesty, Hinome enjoyed her work. It was one of the only things she had left. Many years of study coupled with regularly scheduled training shaped her into one of the few medics who could go out in the field on missions without being a real liability. Her time in the hospital was more limited than most, seeing as she also had an ANBU team to work with. Only when no missions had been given to her squad, which was exceptionally rare, did she have time to contribute to healing.

Looking over her body to check for any further injuries after clothing herself in a set of undergarments, she twisted this way and that in front of the full length mirror on her bedroom wall but all that was reflected back at her was a petit 18 year old ANBU with a lithe stature, long limbs and fair skin.

The shirt she pulled from her closet was one of the more normal looking pieces she wore on a regular basis, being dark blue and sleeveless with a zip-up front and high collar. She continued to towel dry her hair as she wandered over to the dresser and fished out a pair of gray shorts and a knee-length black slit-side skirt to wear overtop. She didn't particularly enjoy wearing skirts, but, it was much more 'work appropriate' when it came to the hospital. After running her fingers through the short strands to fluff them out a bit, she tossed her towel over the nearest chair and headed out toward her front door to slip on a pair of more relaxed shinobi sandals with a greater number of straps, and less ankle support, before grabbing her house keys off the table and locking her front door on her way out.

* * *

Her hospital shift was slow and uneventful, seeing as very few shinobi had come in that day requiring any sort of limb reattachment or replacement of half an organ. Though Hinome had only begun studying medicine and medical ninjutsu when she was 12, her six years of experience helped her to specialize in cell regeneration and replication. It was one of the more precise fields in medicine, seeing as any cells that are made abnormally would develop into cancer cells. Only a small handful of medics specialized in this field, seeing as it required a lot of reading and memorization to be able to duplicate cells from each part of the body faster than the body itself could. It was one of those fields that required a love of books, and an even greater amount of patience. Skin cells, muscle cells, bone cells… The list was endless. Not to mention that replicating DNA was also a must. However, those who were trained in cell regeneration often had to study other things so that they had something to do when things were slow. For her, it was poisons and diseases. Unfortunately, Hinome often ended up spending her days taking care of any civilians , with the exception of children, who came in with general aches and pains.

Nothing particularly eventful had occurred the first several hours of her shift, though she did assist her higher up and the head of her medic squad, Haruno Sakura, in keeping a patient stabilized while the pinkette healed a Chuunin's punctured lungs and broken ribs sustained during the Jounin Exams. Normally, it was a one person job, but, with two people it used up far less chakra between the two that if it was one a single person. Whenever the Jounin Exams came around there was usually a steady stream of patients coming in for several days with injuries varying from broken bones to severed limbs to gaping wounds. But, it was likely they were still in the beginning stages of the exams and therefore there were few vital injuries that couldn't be attended to by newer in-training medics.

Whenever exams came around, with the exception of the Academy Graduation, it was a sort of nostalgic time for some of the more experienced shinobi, and Hinome was included in that group. It seemed that nearly every time one of those fantastic moments came around in her life experience, there was always a parallel yet independent down side that made it something she'd rather not remember. The only two occasions free of that dark side was her Academy graduation, when only a couple months prior her baby sister was born, and her acquisition of ANBU rank.

By the time quarter after nine that evening rolled around, there'd only been two or three cases which required any sort of specialization. When there were fewer dire cases, the more medical personnel were available for each. But, even then, there wasn't many cases to go around that were past the point of minor muscle aches.

Hinome became a near-permanent fixture of the staff room for the last fifteen minutes of her shift before gathering a couple patient files from the table before her and hanging up her lab coat. She passed through the lobby, waving lightly to the secretary whose name she'd forgotten on her way out. Recalling as she stepped onto the street that she was almost out of tea, Hinome headed to the market a few streets down a bought a new tin before taking the weaving mess of streets back to her home.

What she called 'home' was a second story apartment in a well-kept neighborhood located in the outer edges of the heart of the village. She'd moved out of her family's home in the shinobi sector shortly after her sixteenth birthday, deciding it was time for her to get her own place and shed the memories that her home held for her. Her family had been a shinobi family for generations, hailing from what was once Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools. Shortly before the village's destruction, the Makijiku clan had relocated to Konohagakure no Sato and became a civilian family who continued aiding the shinobi world in the way they always had; using their repertoire of Fuinjutsu to create scrolls. Scrolls for seals, transportation, summoning, transformation, anything and everything. They were one of the few families who possessed the skills and knowledge required to produce these shinobi necessities.

This was something that Hinome had been born into, with the looming introduction into her clan's business. It was a difficult point for all children in the clan, because of the amount of pressure introduced at once. Their training was unique, simply because they were introduced to chakra earlier than even most children who were born into shinobi families, such as the Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Nara, Inuzuka, and even the Uchiha. They began when the children were capable of holding brushes without assistance. To create the scrolls that the Makijiku clan were well-known for, it was necessary for all members to be able to correctly and precisely create the kanji that were required for these scrolls, while being able to infuse chakra into strokes when appropriate for the scrolls to work correctly.

Imperfection was not tolerated.

After unlocking her door, Hinome headed into her flat and placed her keys into the bowl atop the table nearby before closing the door behind her and turning the thumb lock above the door knob. Although it wouldn't be any use against shinobi if they really wanted to break in, it was a way of instilling a piece of mind into a home's inhabitants. She slipped off her shoes near the door before heading through her small living room into the kitchenette just beyond it, separated from the rest of the apartment by only a waist-high wall. She opened her tea container and removed a tea bag before readying a tea pot and setting water on the stove to boil.

She leaned lightly against the counter near the stove in thought, gazing around her apartment before deciding to go around and re-check the seals she had placed on all her windows, and place a new one on her door. Well, that would keep out any shinobi who wanted to break in. Or, at least let her know that there was someone rudely interrupting her evening. By the time she returned, the water was boiling and she hustled over to turn off the burner and pick the kettle up off the stove. She poured the white mug full of hot water, waiting until the water took on just the slightest tinge of yellow-green before quickly removing the tea bag before any more flavor was infused in the water. Even though she knew that she had enough money to use one tea bag per cup, she never came to really enjoy the full-saturated flavor of green tea. She tied the tea bag by the string to a nearby cabinet handle to it could dry before taking a sip of her tea and making her way into her living room.

The room was sparsely furnished, with only a green loveseat against the back wall and a low coffee table with a sitting pillow on the opposite side of the loveseat where she made her way to kneel. The floor of her entire apartment was hardwood, but even then her bare feet made no sound on the hard surface. It was something that'd been instilled in her at a young age; never make a single sound. Even creeping around the house while taking care of her mother and sister, she had to be quiet so that she wouldn't disturb them. And still, despite her having lived alone for several years, she was quiet in her own house.

It was suffocating.

She closed her eyes lightly, setting her mug on the coffee table before reaching up and beginning to run her fingers habitually through her thick locks. After several minutes, she began twirling some of the longer strands around her slender fingers. Her head lifted upwards slightly when she felt a chakra signature approaching her apartment rather rapidly, at which she was already on her feet and heading to open the door.

It was Lee, who stopped just at the edge of her threshold and saluted primly. "Hinome-sama, Lady Hokage has requested your presence for a team meeting. We have a mission." He said quickly, the female's nose wrinkling in annoyance before she let out a sigh. "Hai… I'll be there in a few minutes." She said, Lee giving her a thumbs up before running off full-speed to alert the other members of his team. With Lee running that fast, she could only assume that it was important and after closing and locking her door, she made her way to her room to change.

On her ANBU team was Neji as Captain, herself as Assistant Captain, Lee, Naruto, and Shikamaru. But, in this case where Neji was unquestionably off-duty for the time being, she was forced into the role of Captain, and left with the decision of choosing her Assistant Captain. Well. That was an easy decision.

Hinome changed quickly into her ANBU uniform, which consisted of certain modifications to allow for her fighting style. She still wore the high-neck top and vest, but forewent the arm and leg guards. She even wore boots that only came up to mid-calf and shorts that reached just above her knees. She wrapped white cloth around her left thigh before strapping on a kunai pouch which only contained two kunai, along with a large amount of explosive tags. That was really all she needed. She picked the ceramic animal mask up off her dresser and tied it to a small loop on the side of her vest, before strapping on the katana that was slung across her back. It was something she rarely used, and only after all other weapons had been exhausted.

She glanced at the clock. 9:57. Nothing like a late-night mission. With a wry smirk, she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and headed out her bedroom window. She made quick work of bounding over the rooftops, her steel-lined sandals making not the faintest sound as the small form raced over the old-style roofs.

Hinome entered through the open window to the left side of the Hokage's desk, unsurprised to find Lee and Shikamaru already waiting there. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, her mouth pressed in a thin line and her fingers threaded below her chin. Her eyes were fixed on some point far across the room while she managed to ignore the no-longer-spandex-clad shinobi who was trying, almost as ardently as Naruto, to pry what kind of mission they were being sent on. Speaking of Naruto, where was he?

She glanced up when the door opened and two people she hadn't seen in quite some time entered. Rokaru came in first, greeting them with a grin and a wave, with a much more reserved Ichiro following in behind with only a nod in acknowledgement. Her old Genin team mates. What a surprise.

"Well, seeing as you're all here, I suppose I should do this quickly. Hinome, in Neji's absence, you will be acting as Captain of the First Platoon, understood? And I'm assuming Shikamaru will act as Assistant Captain in this instance?"

The female gave a soft nod, which was accompanied by a soft 'Troublesome' from the Nara boy.

"Good. Now, your mission. Two Akatsuki members have been sighted entering Fire's borders from River Country and heading in the direction of Otogakure, and more likely the Land of Lightning that lies further East. We're their only passage to what lies East of Fire, and we need to make sure they know that they're not welcome and above all keep them from reaching Konoha if they're in fact taking a roundabout course as not to immediately attract our attention. "

"That's why Naruto's not here." Hinome amended, Tsunade nodding.

"Correct. It would not be in anyone's best interest if he were captured." The blonde agreed, her eyes sweeping over the shinobi before her. "Now, as I've said, Akatsuki is in Fire country. Normally, it'd take about eight to twelve hours to reach their most recent location. However, with them heading toward Sound, you can hope to intercept them in six hours. This is an S-ranked mission, requiring your upmost attention. If you engage and feel that the battle will not end well, I trust you'll know when to retreat Hinome."

The young woman nodded softly. "Hai."

"Alright. Head out. There will be other ANBU teams nearby to help out if you engage. I'll expect you back in no later than 48 hours without a message." The Hokage added, Hinome nodding again before pulling the Kitsune mask down over her narrow features. Within moments, Saru, Fukuro, Inoko, and Shika joined her, and with a wave of her hand, they all disappeared to reconvene at the gates, some going out windows, others through doors, and a couple in clouds of smoke.

The five ANBU formed a circle at Konoha's gates, listening as Hinome gave them formation details. "I'll take point, Shika right wing, Saru left, Inoko center and Fukuro, rear. " There was a simultaneous nod from the group. "If I say engage, you fight. If I say run, you run. No exceptions." She added, looking around though the small slits in her porcelain mask. "If we are separated, meet up at the most-recently marked tree and we'll regroup. Any questions?"

Greeted only with silence, Hinome turned and took off, the boys following suit and assuming formation as they took to the trees.

* * *

After five and a half hours of running, the potent chakra approaching quickly on their left side drew them to a halt amongst the tree-tops, readying themselves before continuing on the collision course that lead straight to the Akatsuki pair who were more than likely long aware of their presence. The Akatsuki paused, allowing the ANBU to draw up and form an arc around the uneven clearing the Akatsuki had chosen to make their stand in.

Hinome took the center, with Shika and Inoko to her right and Saru and Fukuro to her left, before peering out between the thick leaves. The red clouds against black cloaks was more than necessary confirmation, and that was all it took for Hinome to raise her hand with her middle and index fingers extended before giving a simple flick of her wrist in the direction of their targets. The assault began. The larger of the two was on the left, which was where Shika, Saru, and Fukuro headed, leaving herself and Inoko to deal with the other.

All hell broke loose, with Shika standing back a bit to observe the situation, while Saru went after the hulking Akatsuki member. Most of his kicks, punches or elbow jabs were either avoided or blocked by a large sword covered in white wrapping. Fukuro was attempting to get a hit with his katana, but with little success. For being so large and almost ungainly, the man was able to move quite quickly and easily.

As they drew in to the smaller figure, Hinome was zig-zagging erratically, sometimes halfway across the clearing. Because of her short stature, she was able to move quickly from side to side, setting traps that would help everyone in the process. Inoko had already engaged with the second Akatsuki, allowing Hinome time to glance at the large figure. Blue-tinted skin, dark hair what refused to obey the laws of gravity, and sharp teeth that were bared in a ferocious grin. Unmistakable.

Hoshigake Kisame, ex-Kirigakure shinobi and former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, current member of the organization Akatsuki. And in all reported cases, whenever Kisame was present, so was another.

Her eyes swiveled back to the man fighting against her team mate and a soft crease formed on her forehead beneath the heavy porcelain mask obscuring her features. Uchiha Itachi. She paused momentarily, her arms raising up to shoulder level and moving to intersect at the elbows in one swift movement. In that instant, several things happened at once. Kisame's one arm helping hold Samehada jerked upward awkwardly, and he found himself having difficulty moving his feet in conjunction with a sharp, pinpoint stinging encircling his abdomen. A strong kick to the jaw that sent him reeling backwards, and when accompanied by a slash from Fukuro's sword across his forearm caused him to land harshly against a large tree before snarling softly and beginning to go on a full blown attack.

Meanwhile, several reams of shuriken and kunai launched themselves at the Uchiha, who was able to avoid them with little effort, until his feet were pulled out from under him and he had to catch himself on his hands and launch himself through the air until he landed in a safe spot. That was, until Hinome moved in and drew her fingertips across the back of her knuckles. Her arm straightened as she flicked out a handful of throwing blades just before the Uchiha touched down, causing him to use a kunai to deflect them.

He watched as she seemed to pull a long, slightly curved feral-looking kunai from nowhere after skimming her fingertips across the outside of her left thigh, which she thrust against his blade as it bore down on her. She quickly launched her free hand forward with another blade of similar design that he deflected by grasping her wrist and twisting it off to the side. She flicked her wrist that was stuck in a deadlock with his kunai, managing to disarm him, to his unpleasant surprise, before using his grip on her wrist as leverage to aim a kick to his head. He caught her leg easily and used his double grip to cast her away from him. She landed on her back, rolling quickly to a crouching position with a kunai before her for some form of protection.

But, he was gone. She spun around, watching in horror as Inoko was impaled by a kunai the Uchiha's hand when the ANBU rushed the older male, before being cast into the dirt. Her eyes narrowed softly as she straightened, catching the whizzing of a stray kunai from her right, which struck her mask right where the string tied into the small hook in the porcelain as she turned her head to avoid a strike to the cheek. Her whole body spun with the impact, hoping to lessen it with some success. Her mask flew off, landing some distance away, and on reflex she closed her eyes before turning to face the Uchiha once again.

Behind the Kitsune mask was a fox-faced girl, her shockingly bright strawberry-blonde hair falling into her face in some spots. She was quite a mix of features, the little of them he could see, in that she had a narrow face with high cheekbone, a pointed chin, and thin pouted lips that were only a few shades off from her naturally pale skin tone. To match her fox-like features, she was smart. At least in the aspect that her eyes were closed. She knew who he was, and what he was capable of, and wisely chose to avoid not only his gaze but any part of his body he could use to cast a Genjutsu. But, this left her with a huge blind spot. She couldn't see him anymore. He frowned inwardly at her insolence, before moving silently towards her.

Despite the fact that she couldn't hear his silent footfalls, she could feel every step he took. Although Kisame had freed himself from her wires, they still wound across the grassy earth, up though the trees, and through the air in some spots. If a chakra signature was close enough, the wire would pick up on it, and she would feel any contact that was made. On top of that, being a medic, she was severely more in tune with chakra than probably anyone else in the immediate area. She felt him coming and was able to maneuver out of his way as he made a strike for her neck, no doubt while holding a kunai. Her body sprung backwards, landing on her hands before transferring onto her feet again, then back onto her hands as she twisted her body in a near impossible configuration to avoid the barrage of shuriken and kunai that'd been launched at her.

Itachi moved off to her side after launching his attack, his eyes following the line of her body as it shifted from weight transfer to avoid the projectiles, unable to ignore the simple thought that she was at least a capable shinobi. He glanced at Kisame to find that he had also disposed of one of the ANBU going after him, one masked by the façade of an Fukuro and now had a deep gash seriating his abdomen nearly down to the spine. Seems he'd gotten too close. He looked back to find the fox-faced one kneeling beside the fallen Inoko, a hand glowing a shade of pale green pressed to his chest as she fought to stop the blood from pooling in his lungs while fixing the punctures and healing a split aorta. In a few seconds, the output stopped and a deep sneer formed. "I hope you're happy." Was all she said, before finding herself pinned painfully to the ground.

Itachi stared down at the girl, his grip on her wrists tightening as he situated his shin across her hipbone and thigh to keep her from struggling so much. She wasn't consumed by rage, or acting recklessly. She kept her head, even after two of her team mates had fallen. But apparently the close-combat was finally enough to startle her, and her eyes flashed open to form into a look of defiance. Truthfully, he was stunned at first, not only because she wasn't outright frightened, but because his eyes betrayed him and her irises appeared nearly white. But after a moment, he was able to discern that they were not white, but blue. Blue of such a shade that he would've sworn they were white from a distance. Or maybe it was just the pre-dawn light. He had suspected a more earthen tone, perhaps brown or dark green, but not blue. Her features were such a contrast that they really didn't seem possible. And yet they fit. His trailing thoughts caused him to have to remove himself from her comfort zone after two exceptionally-well aimed blades cut through the air right where his head had been. And all she did was touch her palm with her fingers.

She flipped back onto her feet, eyes narrowing. His eyes were dark, the Sharingan inactive. How long had they been like that? She honestly didn't know. Well, as long as his Sharingan was not activated, she better use it to her advantage. Hinome observed the Uchiha a moment, before beginning to mold her chakra.

In the later years of her medical training, Hinome began to notice many things about her body that she'd previously ignored. Like, how for every jutsu, her chakra would form into a completely unique shape before the jutsu would activate. She took her time, memorizing some of these configurations, and found that for less complex or exceptionally powerful jutsu, she could channel her chakra in the appropriate shape without hand seals. Little did she know that this would be a powerful advantage over any shinobi, and particularly an Uchiha who was so accustomed to reading their hand seals to recognize their technique.

But, before he knew it, a sharp wind blast was heading in his direction with a myriad of sharp, hiltless blades flying at him. He moved rapidly to avoid them and came out of the barrage with just a tear in the sleeve of his cloak. He heard several utterances from Kisame, signaling he'd been hit by some of the stray blades. He knew she'd been gathering chakra to perform a technique, but, she hadn't made any hand seals. He, who could perform them so fast they were often missed, would've definitely seen them if she had made them. Yet that was clearly a Kaze technique.

He frowned, peering through the thick dust to find the girl, her mask, and her fallen team mate gone. He then swiveled, finding the Shika keeping Kisame immobile, while the body the Kitsune handed Saru was placed over his shoulder, one of which was already occupied by the body of the Fukuro. Her mask was again tied to the edge of her vest near her hip, and when she commanded the Saru to leave with a gesture of her arm, he first noticed the red Captain's ribbon tied tightly around her left wrist. He then located the blue of the Assistant Captain that was around the wrist of the Shika. It was unusual, to say the least, that they would make a medic also a Captain. It spoke volumes of how she was viewed by the Hokage, in the sense that they believed she would be able to protect both herself and her team.

After what seemed like an expression of disagreement on the part of the Saru, he saw her slap a seal on to his chest before activating it, causing him and his cargo to disappear in a puff of smoke. She turned back to her remaining partner, the Shika and said simply for him to leave, and that she'd catch up. She was brushing her fingers down her arms, almost nervously, though nothing else about her gave that impression. Soon, the Shika nodded, and after releasing the Shadow Bind technique, also disappeared but of his own will.

Kisame swung his sword immediately at the remaining figure, slicing her from shoulder to hip, only to find that it was a lightning clone that ended up giving him a painful scorching shock that forced a growl from his throat. "Where the hell did she go?" It was abnormal to retreat in such a fashion, without doing any lasting damage. His eyes soon located her, standing almost nonchalantly against a nearby tree with one hand raised and fingers spread. He regarded her a moment as she began folding down her fingers, starting with the thumb.

"5… 4… 3…"

Kisame's eyes widened and he looked around quickly, trying to discern what she was counting down to, while Itachi remained almost impassive, displaying only the faintest hint of surprise

"2…"

That's when she stopped sending out chakra, the wire finally became visible to the Akatsuki. That was how she was keeping Kisame immobile at some points, and even tripped the Uchiha. Wire was everywhere. On the ground in a spider web network of crosses and designs, long strands spanning from tree top to tree top, earth to tree, and some was even twined about their ankles and rapidly growing tighter as the trees seemed to begin leaning toward them, accentuated by the creaking of lumber.

"1…"

That was her plan all along. She was encasing them in wire from the very beginning. Somehow, she'd managed to lay out this massive trap without attracting attention. Kisame's eyes were drawn upwards at the soft glint of blades that were closely packed in the treetops and pointed right at them. It was impossible for a person to be capable of carrying that many weapons and still be able to move, unless they were contained in a large scroll, which she also wasn't hauling around.

"How the…!" The sword wielder's surprise was cut short as the female smirked and dropped her hand to her side.

"Have fun in mugenjigoku." She said simply, before the area was shrouded in dust as trees fell, piling in on the clearing while throwing knives were launched downward at the men, some with explosive tags tied on the end that activated whenever the blade hit something solid. Hinome had crouched down behind the tree she had been standing beside, covering her ears against the onslaught of noise and ducking her head between her knees to prevent getting hit by any debris. Once the dust began to settle, she picked herself up, panting slightly from quite a bit of her chakra being drawn out in one shot. She began bounding up across the fallen trees, locating the last bits of chakra as they slowly faded to nothingness.

Her small form was able to wriggle beneath some of the trees, using wire to lap around the hunks of debris and then back around the tree she'd ducked behind, using the leverage to move the debris away. It took nearly an hour before she had reached the two bodies that lay on the forest floor. They were both male, but the one wearing the larger cloak and sword sling had dark shaggy hair and gray eyes that stared ahead at nothing, and the other that was supposed to be the Uchiha had reddish brown hair and brown eyes that were only half open, while his jaw was agape.

She scowled softly, cursing her own stupidity before turning and running off to reconvene with her team.

* * *

Kisame's eyes opened to regard the Uchiha, who was sitting opposite him in the cramped cave near the border of Konoha and Taki, already alert and gazing out of the mouth of the cave at the expansive forest below them.

"Well shit," the blue man murmured. "I can't believe we got duped like that."

"Speak for yourself," came a monotonous reply.

"Hey! You got killed too," Kisame retorted to the Uchiha who had turned back to face him.

"I would have seen it if the clones were capable of adopting Kekkei Genkai, but since they are not, it only proves that a lesser, weak copy of myself had been defeated," Itachi commented idly, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "What's your excuse? "

Kisame merely broadened his ever-present smirk before stretching the small amount he was allowed. "I ain't got one, and I don't need one." He replied before leaning back a bit as he pondered the Kitsune ANBU that'd remained to face off against them by themselves. Somehow, the sheer number of blades that'd been aimed at them seemed familiar. There had to be thousands of them. And suddenly it clicked, causing a wide grin to form on his features.

"Well shit. Ten-thousand blades."

The Uchiha cast him a look at inconspicuously ordered him to elaborate on his seemingly random statement. In response, Kisame grinned, thrilled to know something that the Uchiha had yet to think of. A slight narrowing to Itachi's eyes induced him to begin his explanation sooner than he would've liked.

"Kakuzu was grumbling about some 'Kitsune of Ten-Thousand Blades' when he was looking through the Bingo Book a few weeks back," he began, "And apparently this ANBU has quite a renown for carrying impossible amounts of weapons at all times. Some who've seen them in battle claim that they'd fired off thousands of blades during a fight, and none of them were fake." He explained, leaning forward a bit and resting his elbows on his knees. "It seems to me that the Kitsune girl that killed off those two clones fits the bill."

Sharingan eyes regarded him a moment before shifting back to the mouth of the cave as the male got to his feet. "Let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover." He said simply before jumping down the incline that lead to the cave, Kisame following as they proceeded toward Kaminari no Kuni on their initial path.

* * *

"They were just high-level clones." Hinome explained, finishing recounting the details of their mission to the Hokage, whose mouth was set in a thin line.

They arrived back at the village shortly after dawn, Shikamaru and Lee taking the bodies of Ichiro and Rokaru to the morgue while she headed to report to the Hokage. Although she stood strong under the Tsunade's gaze for the past fifteen minutes, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and her chest began to constrict as she quickly drew the back of her hand against the rims of her eyes to wipe away the offending salt water before it could spill over.

Why hadn't she called for them to flee sooner, before they were killed? How could she let that happen? Hinome finally sunk into the chair before the Hokage's desk and hung her head, trying to control herself. Only a few tears slipped free before her name was called and she looked up to the honey eyes of the Godaime Hokage.

"Listen to me, Hinome. I know you're hurt. You made an error in judgment, it happens." She assured the younger woman as she composed herself. "But don't beat up on yourself. They died honorably, protecting Konoha. What more could we ask of them?"

Hinome nodded softly, biting her lip gently to help control her emotions. "You have to move on." She could tell the older woman spoke from experience, and in response she could only nod again. What more could she do? She let her two best friends die because she got too wrapped up in the heat of battle. She was supposed to be the Captain, capable of making important calls to protect her team. And she'd failed.

"Hokage-sama." She then said, her confident and authoritative persona returning as she stood. "I'd like to request a change in position."

Tsunade regarded her a moment, eyes stern but also caring. "What do you request?"

"I would like to resign from ANBU and be reinstated as a Jonin."

Her team mates were dead; she'd failed to take care of two more people. How could she have been so selfish? She was so caught up in defeating her opponent that she didn't take into consideration her team's strengths and weaknesses. She was not fit to be a Captain if she couldn't keep her team alive.

The blonde closed her eyes a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the decision before inhaling deeply and looking back up to the talented young woman before her.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's the end of chapter one. Like, dislike? I think I drew out the fight scene a bit too long, personally. And if you're willing, I'd love to hear your views on Hinome. I tried to explain most of her techniques so there wasn't any god modding going on. Hope I did well enough! But, thanks to everyone for reading and hope to see you again!**

**Translator's note: Mugenjigoku is the most painful of the eight hells in Buddhism; the hell of uninterrupted suffering**


	2. Exhaustion

Axiomatic

Chapter Two: Exhaustion

* * *

…"_Fine."_

"What are you doing?"

The Copy Ninja's mismatched eyes opened and swiveled to the medic clad in a stark white robe who stood beside him, arms crossed over her chest and sandal foot tapping lightly on the polished tile floor. Kakashi stretched like a cat who had been awoken from his nap, though probably not by a beautiful young woman as he had been. He sat up in the hospital bed he'd chosen to escape to, removing his over read Icha Icha Paradise book from where it lay partially open on his chest as it'd fallen when he dozed off.

"Kakashi…" she began with a stern tone before the Jonin laying atop rumpled white sheets held one hand up defensively.

"I was just getting away from Naruto and figured: What better place to hide than at the one place Naruto would never willingly go?" The silver-haired male replied, the fair-eyed woman regarding him a moment before letting out a sigh and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I wish you'd at least _tell_ me you're going to be eloping into one of my rooms. If I had a patient needed that bed you're sleeping in, _with your shoes on_, you'd be in a load of trouble," she said dryly, her face flat as she regarded him.

"Relax Hinome-chan. I'd never dream of taking up a bed you may need for a patient," he assured her as she moved her hands to rest on her hips. "But, I'd like to stay for a bit longer, just to make sure I'm in the clear…" he added, the female giving him another deadpan look.

"I think you've been 'in the clear' long enough to have fallen asleep," Hinome replied as Kakashi put away his book and pulled his hitai-ate back over his Sharingan eye.

"Hm… You're probably right," he admitted after a moment, scratching the back of his head as he swung his legs over to sit at the edge of the bed.

"Now that we've got that settled, make sure you put clean sheets on the bed before you go. You know where they are," she said softly, finally smiling.

This was a usual for the two, some sort of odd habit they'd fallen into the past two years. Whenever Kakashi needed a place to escape to, he'd take a room in Hinome's wing of the hospital and camp out there for a few hours before he could make his way safely home. But, he also came here when he wanted something to talk to and when Sakura, his favorite female student, was unavailable, he'd come and find Hinome. She was, begrudgingly, the head of the Special Forces Division, who dealt with the strange cases. The unusual diseases, peculiar effects of jutsu-gone-awry, and the reconstruction of nearly-obliterated organs. They were, essentially, the A-Team who took care of things when they went horribly wrong. She'd even taken a look at his Sharingan eye on occasion, because it helped her understand different features of the eye and how they could be affected by immense amounts of chakra.

The thing Hinome loved most about this job was that she didn't have to face the two things she feared. One, children; because they went right to the Pediatric unit. And two; people she knew, because she could just order someone else to take that case.

And, Kakashi was aware of that. He was glad she was happy. She'd lost much over the handful of years he'd known her, and after she'd requested to be demoted back to the rank of Jonin by Tsunade and took up a full-time job in the hospital, she'd been rather happy. She always took cases she knew she could save, the one true flaw he could see within her. But, he'd never said anything direct despite having hinted at it again and again. He knew she knew what he was getting at. She was a smart girl. And yet, she never strayed from her comfort zone. Not once.

He watched as she strode out the room, probably to go and check on a patient who'd recently awoken after having their life restored by someone on the medical team, before getting up and stripping the bed. He went to the linen cabinet on the other side of the room and gathered sheets to remake the bed as he pondered the girl who'd just left. She really was a strange one, and she'd changed in the time she'd worked in the hospital. She let her hair grow out and now wore it in a braid pulled tight to her scalp, instead of loose and carefree. She no longer smiled or spoke as often, but was as quick as ever to react to a situation. She didn't look as vibrant as she used to, but instead had a subdued and calm presence about her. It was evident, maybe not to others, but she was a growing up.

It was becoming easier to notice the more he observed the Genin that'd graduated around the same time that Team 7 had. Hinome had graduated two years prior to his own infamous team, and a year and a half before Guy's team. But, she was skilled, and that much was evident once it became known that she was newly twenty years old, the same age as Sakura and Naruto.

Kakashi glanced up as he passed the small area in the village where the homes of the Makijiku clan lay close together, likely no more than ten large houses surrounded by a high red fence. But, it was well known that at least half of those houses were empty as there were a decreasing number of clan members, and those that remained were nearly all getting up in their years and required 24-hour assistance. It was a shame that Hinome felt the need to leave what remained of her family, but once while she was speaking to him during her break, he learned that she wasn't very close to any of them and hadn't been for quite some time. Of course, he never asked why knowing that she would've shared on her own if she felt the need.

But, over time, he'd learned much about her clan simply from hearing her mention small things in conversation. Such as that she was closest to her cousin, Mame, who was five years her senior and whom she hadn't seen in a long time, but heard had married and had two children. Or that her father was killed by shinobi, making her family highly resentful of the whole community. And that she still didn't get along with her aunt because Hinome had said that the older woman was, "under appreciative" when she was only six years old. Maybe she'd always had the ability to see through people. Perhaps that was why he never bothered to come up with some poorly disguised lie to explain his tardiness or unusual appearances in odd places.

Speaking of odd places to happen across people, Hinome looked up as Naruto entered her office, a broad grin on his features. "Hinome-chan, you're coming to Ichiraku's, right? A whole bunch of us are getting together for Hinata-chan's birthday!" he chirped, the softest look of endearment forming on his features when he mentioned the Hyuuga girl. It'd been a long time coming, since for the last year or so, Naruto always asked for the heiress when he came back from a mission so she could heal what remained of his wounds. Then, only months ago, he finally asked her out. Sakura and herself had been subtly nudging him towards the beautiful woman, and now he was wrapped around her little finger. After Hinata transferred from the hospital to the field, Naruto inadvertently stopped coming to the hospital when he was injured and instead went to the apartment he and his 'Hina-chan' shared.

She couldn't help the smile that formed on her features as the blonde's inescapable charm spread through her office. "Sure, Naruto… But, I don't have a present for her."

"Don't worry about it! She'll just be glad you came," he assured, moving to sit in the chair across from her. "She's just the best like that."

Hinome couldn't help but chuckle, leaning back a bit in her chair. Naruto just had this infectious sort of smile, and she felt herself able to relax around him. Maybe it was also because she was able to loosen up around him, and even had fun on every occasion. Whether it was having a ramen-eating contest, which he won of course, or offering to help her train by making a plethora of his infamous shadow clones. He really was a riot, and she invited him over to her home on more than one occasion during the previous years she'd known him. It was just something about him that she couldn't help but enjoy being around. Usually she was the 'me, myself, and I' of their age group, but, it was nothing compared to Shino's solidarity.

"I guess we should go now if we want to be on time." Naruto then said, standing abruptly and making for the door. Hinome chuckled, closing the open folder on her desk and getting up before hanging her medic cloak up on the hanger near the back corner of the room. "Fine, fine… Don't leave me behind." She teased softly, adjusting the hem of her dark blue t-shirt She fished her hitai-ate out from the pocket of her medic cloak and tied it loosely around her neck before transferring her wallet into the cargo pocket of the side of her dark gray capris.

"Alright, ready to go," Hinome finally said, following the blonde out of her office and then out of the hospital.

"I thought you weren't on duty anymore," Naruto commented, eyeing the mixture of her usual outfit and the kunai pouch that was still strapped to her left thigh overtop a layer of white wrapping. "Seems to me like you're still waiting to be jumped," he teased, the female smiling a bit.

"You can never be too careful," she admonished, shrugging slightly as they neared Ichiraku's. There was already a decent number of people there; Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Sakura, Tenten, Lee, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino, Kurenai, and her son Asuma, who was now a toddler.

"Neji's coming soon with Hinata," Naruto explained, guiding her to join the table of ten. Akamaru barked, padding over to meet her, where he received a gentle pat on the head before she stooped down to ruffle his ears, for which she earned a big dog kiss in response.

Hinata and Neji arrived shortly after Hinome got seated, and she couldn't help but smile at the blush that formed on the young woman's face when Naruto wrapped his arms around her and placed a loving kiss on her cheek. She was guided over to the large booth at the back and placed in the lap of the Kyuubi container, causing an even deeper blush to form on her features.

By the time their ramen was served, Hinata had calmed down and the party was in full swing. She'd managed to get Shikamaru to talk a bit, letting her know about some of the goings on within the ANBU and Jounin squads, Ino and Sakura soon filling her in on all the scuttlebutt shared at the nurse's station. She and Tenten got into a discussion on weaponry, something they were both fond of, with some occasional input from the male Hyuuga at her side. When Lee began talking about youthfulness, and commenting on all that Asuma had ahead of him, Hinome decided to head home. She paid for the half-bowl of ramen she'd eaten before slipping from the booth and waving good bye. She couldn't stand being around the young Asuma for much longer… He was just so… helpless. And she couldn't stand it.

Once she was free and walking down the streets of Konoha, relaxation began to wash over her. She somehow made her way to the Konoha War Memorial, kneeling down in front of the two names of her team mates and tracing the deep grooves in the rock. Although she hadn't seen her team mates all too often, they were really the only two people she ever had any connection with in a long time. They were staples in her life, and when they were both taken from her at one time two years ago, she was lost for quite a while. She simply didn't know what to do. That was when Naruto really stepped up. After she resigned as Assistant Captain and began to draw into herself, he came up and pulled her out. Between reminding her greatly of Rokaru, and simply being one of the nicest people she knew, she couldn't resist and soon found herself drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame. He gave her strength.

"Forgive me, Ro-kun, Ichi-kun…" she murmured softly before standing again. It'd been hard to move on, and although she thought of them every so often, it no longer consumed her.

It was with a rare, unconscious smile that she made her way back home.

* * *

The days passed slowly, and three months after Hinome asked her team mates for forgiveness, she again found herself sitting at her coffee table, sipping weak tea and flipping through a medical book. She closed it after a moment more of scanning before resealing it into the scroll that lay open across the table. After rolling up the scroll, she tucked it back into the pouch secured to the back of her waistband and took another sip of her tea. Having returned from a simple B-rank mission to retrieve a scroll from far North, which she only took so she'd have a little extra cash, a few hours ago she had yet to get around to changing into her more normal clothing.

Her forehead creased when she felt two chakra signatures approaching her door, which was followed by a knock. She got to her feet and peered through the peephole, before slipping on her shoes. There were two ANBU in full uniform outside her door, and the fact they'd come for her meant she severely was needed. After releasing the seal on her door, she opened it and the ANBU spoke.

"Makijiku Hinome, your presence is requested by the Hokage regarding a sensitive matter. We have been asked to escort you to her," the most forward one, wearing a bird-like mask that somehow horribly mocked Ichiro's owl, stated. She managed a nod, locking her apartment before exiting it and traveling with the ANBU to their headquarters.

Her forehead creased once she realized that they were not going to the Hokage tower, but just as she opened her mouth the two ANBU turned on her, closing her in. "You are hereby detained for questioning regarding the murders of two Konoha Jounin, "as one spoke, her wrists were being secured behind her back with chakra-draining ropes and her pouches containing all her scrolls and her kunai holster were being removed. She was shoved none too delicately down into the lower levels of the headquarters toward where she knew the holding cells were, refusing to so much as utter a cry of frustration or annoyance. "Any attempts of escape will be dealt with forcefully," at this point, her she was being placed in a concrete room with four walls, a ceiling, a table and two chairs. After being searched and having found no weapons on her she was forced into one of the chairs. It was all she had to keep her expression flat as the door was slammed closed behind her.

How had she been so stupid? She should've seen through the whole 'Hokage wants to see you' routine. She'd done it herself at least a dozen times. And what were they talking about. Murder of two Jounin? That wasn't possible… Ah. This was exactly what they were planning. Let her sit and drive herself mad. That wasn't going to happen. She sat still, letting herself sink into deep sort of relaxation where her mind was as blank as possible while she counted the seconds.

* * *

'_Seven thousand, two-hundred forty five… Seven thousand, two-hundred forty six…Seven thousand, -'_After two hours of sitting in silence, the door swung open and in walked the man of the hour, Morino Ibiki. And he didn't look happy. Not that he ever did, of course. Despite the fact that he never frowned or scowled on a regular basis, there was just something about the arrangement of his facial features that made him look just… pissed off. All the time. She'd come to know him to some degree, not quite friends, but acquaintances at least. They'd talked, and she found that he was quite intelligent, but not very verbal. Never once did she think he'd be interrogating her for any reason.

"Well, well, well. It looks like we're in the presence of a traitor." The man drawled, dropping a manila folder onto the table as he stood in front of her on the other side of the desk. He was answered by a blank, almost disinterested stare. That was how it started out with most shinobi, unfortunately. He would just have to press a little harder. "How did it feel, killing your own people? Your neighbors?"

Again, nothing. Soon, he opened the manila folder, shoving the bloody photo of a crime scene into her face. "Are you proud of what you've done?"

'_Are you happy now?'_

The words she'd said to the Uchiha over two years ago rang true and clear.

Her eyes zeroed in on the picture before rising to the man holding it. "You knew them." She said simply, her face betraying nothing but the faintest hint of boredom. She received no reply, but the man slapped the glossy 12 by 16 full-color photo onto the metal surface.

Hinome knew them as well, but, not to any real degree. Their names were Kazuki and Minnaro, though their surnames escaped her. They worked under her once and royally pissed her off because they both were the two most sexist pigs she'd ever met and had refused to obey any orders she gave them. So, there was a bit of bad blood between them.

Did they honestly think she would slaughter them just to make herself feel better?

… She'd killed for less.

But, that was not the case in this instance. Whoever killed them went through a lot of trouble to connect her to it, for what reason she couldn't fathom. She could see wire wrapped around the corpses, and each was stuck like a pig full of short throwing blades that were distinctly hers. Anyone who happened across a place where she'd fought could easily gather pieces of her wire or pick up a few knives then use them to kill. She continued to observe the photo, picking out the unusual nicks and cuts on the body that screamed whoever did this was an amateur who had little to no experience with this method of killing. She could prove that, couldn't she?

He continued badgering her, talking down her pride and dedication to Konoha in an attempt to get her to confess, but, none of the words seemed to make an impression. However, her subconscious was screaming at her to admit it. She'd killed them. Ichiro and Rokaru. Not these two Jounin, but her team mates. They probably had families, girlfriends, maybe even children. It was all the same. These families needed closure. They _needed_ it to _move on._ If she admitted to it, then, they wouldn't have that problem. They would have someone to blame, to rage at.

Apparently she'd been staring off for quite some time, because Ibiki soon left the room, ordering the two guards outside the door to take her to the holding cells. She was grabbed by the biceps and practically lifted to her feet, the top of her head just passing the ANBU's shoulders as she they lead her into a room with a cage-like front. As she was lead, it became painfully aware that they'd purposely waited two hours before approaching her again. They were waiting for a majority of her chakra to be absorbed by the ropes. After locking the door with a simple key, the ANBU retreated and she heard another door clang shut, followed by the sound of retreating footsteps.

With nothing to do but sit, she plopped down and hung her head, eyes closing forcefully. She needed to keep her chakra up as far as she could, to prevent being overly fatigued. It would make her give in. She managed to fall asleep, but as the ANBU approached to take her back into the interrogation room, she was wide awake again and watching their every move. The cycle of interrogate, cell, interrogate, cell repeated itself again and again, until Hinome was certain she'd been in captivity for almost two full days. Ibiki had tried every tactic, at least as far as she could figure. Guilt, intimidation, emotional stress, physical stress, refusing food, and he even went so far as to smack her around a bit, leaving her with a cut above her eyebrow and a bruise on her cheek. That was where she drew the line.

After being placed back in the cell, and blocking out her slightly increased breathing rate, she monitored the sounds surrounding her. She was alone but, there were likely ANBU past the gate at the end of the hallway. She'd have to do this fast, before she was too low on chakra to get very far. She wiggled her hands a bit so she could reach her knuckles, and after brushing her fingertip across the small 'seal' kanji only a shade lighter than her porcelain skin, she sent a small pulse of her precious remaining chakra to undo the sealing technique. Her fingers grasped the throwing blade, which she proceeded to use to attempt to cut through the bindings.

Luckily, the ropes were only chakra absorbing and not chakra enforced, and gave way under the sawing action. As soon as a majority of the rope was cut through, she ripped her arms apart and let the rope fall to the floor. After rubbing her wrist, she inched over to the gate. Checking through the bars to make sure the hallway was clear, she scanned her arms for a moment, counting back fifteen seals before releasing seal sixteen and seventeen. She tucked the blade in her hand into her kunai holster before using her newly unsealed senbon to pick the lock on the door. Apparently they were expecting any weapons a person would've had to have been located, and therefore weren't planning for any of them to be able to undo the lock. After hearing the tumbler click, she masked her chakra and waited, and waited. The biggest flaw to chakra absorbing rope was that even if it was no longer attached to whomever's chakra it'd drained, it will continue to emit their chakra signature as long as there was still chakra within the binding. As far as the ANBU knew, she was still in the cell.

Convinced that she hadn't been heard, and that the gates weren't hooked to some chakra-alarm, she slipped out through the small opening she'd created before edging down the hall, all but glued to the wall.

She watched an ANBU pass by, not even arm's length from her, and after a quick glance down the cell hallway, continued on. She could've sworn they'd be able to hear her heart pounding in her chest. Hinome remained impossibly still, waiting for a full two minutes before another ANBU came by, this one the second ANBU to 'escort' her to the headquarters. Another two minutes passed when that shinobi left her sight until the first one came again. Two minutes. That was all she had. As soon as the second ANBU passed on their second lap, she bolted from her hiding place, adrenaline pumping as she again reached around to pick the lock. The door swung free and she made her way to the small cubby hole opposite the gateway after re-closing the door. There was a stack of open faced boxes, inside one of which was her pouches and kunai. After rearming herself, she crawled up onto the top of the stack and waited silently, pressed back against the far wall.

Her breathing sounded like harsh wind in her ears, like each inhale was a sandstorm and each exhale was a blizzard. Was she really going to do this? It was a crime, escaping ANBU captivity. But, she knew from the look that Ibiki always gave her before he left that he was going to make her confess to this crime, whether she committed it or not. Although she managed to keep calm outwardly, inwardly she'd been reeling. She actually considered admitting to it. She was going to go down for it. Her choices were: stay and be sentenced to death, or leave, be sentenced to death, but have a chance to live a little longer. Oh, what the hell. It was time to be selfish for once.

Her mind returned to the world of the living as the next ANBU passed, unaware of her presence between the lack of chakra signature, the heavy shadow above the storage boxes, her utter silence, and the shape of the highly obscuring eyeholes in their mask. As he passed, she slipped silently to the floor and followed at a safe distance until he turned down a hallway to the left that apparently lead to another block of cells. She continued straight, breaking into a soundless run as she worked her way up through the levels, relying on what she could remember of the underground floors of headquarters to work her way up to the ground floor. She slipped past the snoozing low-level kunoichi that acted as the secretary near the door before escaping into the cool late-autumn air.

Hinome wasn't sure how long it'd be until they realized she was missing, but, she had to assume that she was already discovered. She took off at a sprint, conserving her chakra for when she'd really need it; once she was out of the gates. It was a clear shot down the main road, but, she stuck to the shadows and only when she reached the gates did she really pause to think. Was this what she wanted to do? She was leaving friends, and distant family, behind. Her job. Her trust. Everything. With a muffled groan she sunk into the deep shadows and put her head between her knees. People always second-guessed things when they still knew they could turn back. But right now, she was in over her head; there was no going back. Hinome wasn't sure how long she sat, but soon, after she made sure she was alone, she got to her feet.

Yes. She was leaving. If Tsunade, who undoubtedly would have to agree to her being brought in for questioning, didn't trust her, then, it was fair to assume that Konoha did not trust her either. In essence, they'd declared that they thought of her only as a tool, a loose cannon, a wound spring, ready to unleash their fury on anything that didn't agree with their own beliefs. Although the Hokage had not taken her as an apprentice, Hinome had gained quite a bit of knowledge by simply asking the Sanin about procedures and capabilities. She'd come to think highly of the woman, not only as the Hokage, but as a mentor of sorts. That may have been what hurt her the most. The village was turning their back on her without even considering her protestation. It was as simple as that, it seemed.

She inhaled deeply before taking off at a sprint out of the village, taking a winding, erratic route through the forest. Sometimes in the trees, sometimes on the ground, sometimes circling and backtracking before heading off somewhere else. Hinome knew she had to keep them delayed as long as possible. She didn't have a choice anymore. She'd officially abandoned her village. She chose life over death.

* * *

A/N: Well, here's chapter two. Hope it's not too cliché at any point. I wanted to explain a bit of her attachment to some of the characters, and Hinata-chan's birthday seemed to be the perfect excuse. I also wanted to give everyone a little insight from the Copy Ninja, since he's sooo skilled at reading people. This chapter's a bit shorter than the last, but, it felt like an appropriate place to stop. That's all from me for now. Thanks for reading!


	3. Variation

Axiomatic

Chapter Three: Variation

* * *

One year.

Well, actually, eleven months, twenty-seven days, eighteen hours, and twenty-five minutes to be precise.

Hinome had survived on her own, without Konoha. Without friends or family, and with limited human interaction. As far as nukenin went, she stayed painfully under the radar. It was by no means easy, but, it was bearable to some degree. Once you got over the fact that people you never met wanted you dead, you were reduced to a hunted animal, and there was no place that was safe, it was actually a bit liberating. There was no one to report to, your time was your own. Usually.

You could go anywhere, which was exactly what Hinome did. She traveled. A lot. From the far north to the deep south, there wasn't any country she hadn't visited. She found that as long as she stayed out of areas heavily populated by shinobi, she was pretty well in the clear. But, then again, she didn't parade around in shinobi clothing. She'd adopted a very civilian style of dress when venturing into town, like the pale blue yukata and black zori she was wearing as she strode down the main boulevard of the town, her significantly longer hair pulled up into a carefully crafted bun. She looked like just another young woman out on errands in this out of the way town.

No one ever suspected the pretty ones of being anything but that; pretty. And, for some reason, harmless tended to go hand-in-hand with attractive to most people. But, she was armed to the teeth, as per usual. And the lazy drifting of her eyes had nothing to do with the artfully decorated displays in the shop fronts that lined both sides of the street under the light of paper lanterns. She was examining every face, every action, every glance of those around her, searching for anything out of the ordinary. However, there was nothing of interest to be seen, even as she entered the cozy inn at the end of the street. The elderly woman behind the counter gave a welcoming smile as Hinome waved and continued up to her room. It would be her third night staying in the inn, and the woman had come to recognize her. But, she'd be leaving Kusa tonight, though where she was going, she had yet to decide.

Reaching her room, she headed into the bathroom and disrobed quickly to get one last shower before heading back out on the road. Hinome regarded herself in the mirror, not at all surprised to see how tired she looked with slight discoloration beneath her eyes. She was in overall good health, though she'd lost what little baby fat had remained in her cheeks and she'd continue to pale, if even possible. If she had to deflect, she was glad that she had done so after returning from a mission. It was unusual, but, she carried almost all of her belongings with her, sealed into the plethora of scrolls she carried in her pouch. She had her savings, clothing, toiletries, nonperishables, weapons, books, photographs… Almost everything. The only things she left back at her apartment were the furnishings, some trinkets, and her ANBU katana. She never used it, anyway.

But, despite practically carrying her house on her back, she'd had hard times as she had expected. Sometimes, if she was being tracked by a hunter nin, she went without sleep or a decent meal for days at a time, not that she ate or slept much anyway. There was more than one occasion when she had to sleep in the woods, or in some run-down inn in a seedy part of town because there were shinobi in the more up-and-up part.

She made sure to scrub extra hard and use a mass amount of soap and shampoo, simply because she didn't know when her next shower would be, before stepping out and wrapping herself in the slightly-worn down white towel belonging to the inn. After braiding her waist-length hair, she picked up her change of clothing off the toilet seat, slipping on a set of undergarments, followed by tightly binding her chest. She knew of many kunoichi who only did one or the other, but, Hinome preferred to do both just to be sure she kept them, more or less, out of the way. After making sure the bindings wouldn't come loose, she pulled on a sleeveless light gray shirt with a neckline that was cut to a deep V, but with an underlay of mesh for modesty. Next came a pair of tight-fitting knee-length shorts similar to what she wore in her ANBU days. Lifting her foot to rest on the edge of the tub, she began winding wrapping around her left thigh. Once the end was tucked into the wrapping, she strapped on her kunai holster and proceeded to stretch.

Just from the simple action of stretching her arms over her head and lifting herself up onto her toes, nearly every vertebrae in her back popped at the much-needed extension, followed by her shoulders as she proceeded to rotate the bone in the sockets. She then twisted her body, her spine giving another series of pops. She proceeded to stretch the muscles in her legs, arms, back, everywhere. She required heavily on her flexibility, because it allowed her to avoid her own wire traps and get to every part of her body where she would possibly have a seal. And unfortunately, that meant she had to stretch almost every day to keep her muscles and joints from becoming tense.

Once she was satisfied, she gathered her shampoo, soap, yukata, and zori, which were then sealed into her toiletry and clothing scrolls once she re-entered the bedroom portion of the inn. After unsealing her shinobi boots, she plopped down on the edge of the bed and began doing the eight buckles that wrapped around her knee-high boots. They were dark gray, a color Hinome seemed to favor, with a thin black sole and a very slight heel. They were metal lined, of course, so they were worth the extra height when you tended to favor using your legs as Hinome did.

She examined her hitai-ate, lips pursed slightly as she examined the deep gash that read from one end of the metal to the other. Her thumb grazed across the imperfection before she sighed and tied the black cloth loosely around her neck. Hinome no longer remembered exactly when she finally drew a kunai across the surface, the deep cut symbolizing the severing of her connections to her village. But, it really wasn't of much importance anyway. It was not some life changing action, just a reaction to what'd come to be.

She placed her scroll pouches on the ground beside the bed before stretching out a bit as her mind drifted to where she'd like to go next. Well, she was closer to the north boarder of Kusa, having come from the West out of Rain. Might as well get some sleep before continuing on North.

* * *

After departing around midnight, having donned a charcoal gray rain cloak, Hinome spent the last six hours running at a moderate pace north through out of Kusa and into Taki, bypassing the small scattering of villages and heading North-East. She wasn't sure what country she was heading toward, but as long as her internal compass had not failed her, she was heading in any direction but toward Hi no Kuni, and that was more than enough for her.

She was just an hour or so from the boarder, having been traveling through increasingly dense forest as the rainy boarder of the unknown country drew nearer and nearer, when she sensed a chakra, albeit muted, approaching from the South-West. It was too careless a move to have been done by a hunter nin, and the chakra was too dense and concentrated to be a low level-shinobi. Then she realized that as they drew closer, they were continuing to suppress their chakra until they were at a distance where most shinobi would begin to detect their presence. They were careless. They were underestimating her. Though she was sure the unknown shinobi was almost completely undetectable, there was just this tugging at the back of her subconscious that told her flat out she was being followed. And they were getting closer.

Fighting the urge to mask her chakra and just take off, she continued as if she hadn't noticed. She'd sense them when they got close enough to be a threat, and with that in mind, she kept up her own set pace.

It wasn't long before she was finally getting irritated. They were just… following her. Not coming within the distance where she'd be able to hit them with a chakra-enhanced throw of a blade, but staying close enough that she just couldn't ignore it. With her patience worn thin, she stopped abruptly once she escaped the cover of the patch of trees she'd just passed through. Spinning to face her unseen shadow, she inclined her chin slightly. Although it did nothing to increase her height, it somehow made her feel more like she could meet her stalker head on.

"The game of 'Follow the Leader' is over. If you have something to say, come out and stop wasting my time. If not, kindly leave." Despite her voice being naturally soft and feminine, she managed to craft it into something that was steady and, if she would admit it to herself, almost nonplussed despite her irritation.

Her reply was a kunai whizzing straight for the dip of the bridge of her nose between her eyes. Although she hadn't been expecting it, she reached up and caught the ring at the end of the hilt between two fingers before flicking her wrist and sending the weapon right back from whence it came.

"Impressive, kunoichi. You're not dead yet," a scratchy, slightly muffled voice commended as she saw a figure approaching her from the brambles lining the edge of the timberline.

"What do you want? If you think I haven't noticed that you've been not-too-discreetly tailing me since I reached the first forest you've got to be incompetent," Hinome stated as she examined the cloaked figure before her with a creased brow.

His face was obscured between a dark mask and the high collar of his cloak, and white hat with a black cloth tied overtop around his forehead hid his hair. Somehow, his hat remind her of the white headdresses worn by ghosts in some of her old picture books, though instead of holding a kanji representing 'spirit', his was sporting a Takigakure hitai-ate slashed clean through. And although his peculiar eyes consisting of a pupiless neon-green iris set in an inky black sclera caught her attention, what held her focus was the almost bulky looking cloak that was draped over his frame, covering nearly to mid-calf.

Black. The darkest end of the color spectrum. And it was stained by design of vermillion clouds, scattered just so that they almost appeared to be moving as a wind blew past and ruffled the fabric. Akatsuki. However, this one was unfamiliar to her personally. She was going in blind.

"What I want, Makijiku Hinome, is to slice off your head and take you in for a bounty. However," the man spoke, watching in slight amusement as her eye twitched slightly when inky black tentacle-like appendages shot from the very ground beneath her feet and tethered around her wrists, ankles, and waist, pulling her down onto her knees, "what I want is overruled by what Leader wants. And what Leader wants is to discuss something of great importance with you."

Hinome's forehead creased deeper in slight confusion.

"You're going to be accompanying me back, either bound as you are now, or by your own power. Which would you prefer? Oh, and I should mention that if you stray from the path, I'll be taking you back all bound up anyway."

Hinome met his gaze with a flat, almost exasperated expression before rolling her eyes dramatically. "I'll walk by myself. And I promise I won't run." The last sentence was said almost mockingly, but, she was released regardless and immediately regained her footing.

"Who are you, and where are we going?" Was her next inquiry, watching as the man drew closer until he was about an arm's length from her.

"I am Kakuzu, and where we're heading is of no great importance. You will see soon enough." Was his reply before he brushed past her and took off. Not wanting to have to feel those slimy tentacles around her again, Hinome followed suit, catching up quickly with a boost of chakra and managing to keep up his rigorous pace with only a small, steady stream of chakra being sent to her legs. For some reason, she didn't think the next time she saw this man they'd be on the same grounds as present. And that somehow didn't sit quite right with her.

* * *

Despite how bulky his cloak appeared, Kakuzu didn't seem hindered in the least by the highly obscuring fabric. At the pace he set for them, they crossed the border of the neighboring country in less than forty-five minutes, in comparison to the nearly hour and a half it would've taken if Hinome had continued alone. She wasn't sure if he was purposely trying to make sure she fell behind, or he was just that eager to get wherever they were going so he could be rid of her. She knew it wouldn't be long until they reached the village and after pulling up the hood of her rain cloak, used what little time she had left to ponder her whole situation.

Most importantly, what did Akatsuki want with her of all people? She wasn't some highly important village big-wig, as far as they knew she was just a standard Jounin. She hadn't done anything personal toward the organization, only fought and killed two clones over three years ago when she was ANBU. That may've very well been taken as an insult, except she surely wasn't the only one. What if they already got everyone else who'd done them wrong? No, that didn't make sense. It'd be a gigantic waste of time.

If Akatsuki's aim was to capture Jinchuuriki as many believed, she still really wouldn't be of any use. Sure, she knew Naruto, but, they weren't exceptionally close like she knew Kakashi and Sakura were to him. But, they probably already knew that. Then… what on earth? Hinome's brain began racking through all the information she'd ever acquired on Akatsuki, as both a Konoha shinobi and as a nukenin. In the past six years, Akatsuki had suffered a massive loss in man power. First Sasori of the Red Sand, eliminated by Haruno Sakura. Then Hidan and Kakuzu, by Shikamaru. And, to top it all off, Deidara of the Akatsuki was killed in battle with Uchiha Sasuke, the idiot hell-bent on revenge who continued to go around wreaking havoc with the little goonies he picked up after killing Orochimaru. But, that was a discussion for another time.

Somehow, Kakuzu was still alive, and that wasn't exactly consoling. How many others were still living, she wondered. As the rain became denser, Hinome had a feeling she'd be finding out sooner than she would've liked. Rising out of the barren land around her, free from any sort of confining wall, was a lone village. It started out with a few one and two story buildings, and as they continued through the cobblestone and concrete streets, the buildings grew taller and more complex. The materials of concrete and metal that a majority of the buildings were built from spoke volumes of its modernization. The fact that she also wasn't up to her waist in water seemed to suggest that the metal pipes that climbed the buildings around them had something to do with a drainage system, or other such system that kept the rain from building up on the concrete and stone covered earth.

They slowed to a walk as they entered the heart of town, the slight bustle of people and vendors in the streets preventing any sort of race. She kept a close eye on Kakuzu's cloak to make sure she didn't lose him, but being the size she was, she found it easy to weave around people and keep up with his larger frame around which people seemed to part. She noticed that as she walked, many people were giving the male ahead of her looks of gratitude and nods of appreciation. How could these people be appreciative of the organization that was killing people on a regular basis? Maybe the people of this village were just as twisted as the Akatsuki that inhabited it.

Her eyes drifted to the building that rose straight and tall in front of them, very unlike the crooked buildings everywhere else, with levels that appeared to have been added as needed and made with whatever they had handy at the time. It was another building that was a mix of concrete and steel in construction, with the tell-tale pipes snaking up the sides. What made the building stand out the most was not the fact that it was significantly taller than any other, but the metal statue that stood almost as high as the building itself. It was a man, or it at least resembled a man, with a demonic influence. The face was a grotesque scowl, with the mouth wide open and tongue exposed. As they got closer, she saw that the face had several piercings, primarily in the nose and lip, and that the thing it was holding in its right hand, emitting a lazy stream of smoke, was a pipe. Hinome made a face that was a mix of mock disgust and uncertainty when she took in the statue in its entirety, but, she continued following Kakuzu as he headed toward the space between the statue's feet.

Once they drew close enough that Hinome could reach out and touch the building, the space in front of them swung open in two divided parts, like twin doors parting to welcome important guests. Kakuzu proceeded inside, Hinome noting that the ring he wore on his left middle finger glowed brightly as he crossed the threshold before dulling out to nothingness. The room they entered was small and bare, with nothing but a set of elevator doors directly across from where they just entered. She glanced over her shoulder to find the opening completely gone, replaced by nothing but solid wall. Once she had entered the elevator, Hinome pulled back her hood and Kakuzu pressed a single button on the unmarked panel beside the door.

She wasn't sure how many floors they went up before the doors opened and the Akatsuki proceeded down the hallway they entered into. The floor was carpeted in a deep brown, and the walls paneled in a dark wood, but the lighting provided by small subdued light fixtures every few feet gave the path an almost homey feel. Again, there was only one door at the end of the small passage way, which Kakuzu paused outside momentarily before raising his fist to knock lightly. There was a muffled reply of granted access, or so Hinome assumed, as the Akatsuki proceeded inside. Once she was standing within the confines of the room, Kakuzu closed the door behind her and proceeded toward the figure seated in one of two brown leather armchairs directly across from each other.

"I've returned, Leader." The man who'd brought her here confirmed, though for some reason she was sure that was already assumed since he was standing not ten feet from the other man.

Hinome followed at a distance, taking the time to note that the theme of carpeted floors and dark walls had continued in from the hallway. Her eyes proceeded over the few hanging scrolls that decorated the walls, the lighting provided by a single fixture with a bottom of frosted glass over the center of the room turning the writing into ethereal proclamations. One, which bore her clan's mark, caught her eye before making her frown. She quickly took in the set of book cases pressed against opposite walls, one holding a few scrolls and trinkets and the other completely bare.

"Makijiku-san." The utterance of her name in a deep, listless voice caused her to fix her eyes on the figure that'd been present when they entered. She caught Kakuzu leaving through another door in the back corner through her peripheral vision, though she was focused primarily on the one that'd been named as 'Leader'.

He looked young by all standards, his multi-pierced face not yet touched by the creases of age and his eyes sharp and clear. She was surprised by the coloration existing within a series of concentric circles that faded through shades of gray from the white of the sclera right down to the pupil, the design bringing back memories of something she'd once read in a book of doujutsu. The Rinnegan? There was a faint crease in her brow that was gone as quickly as it'd come as her mind began processing that information. The Rinnegan was supposed to be a myth, but the living proof was right in front of her, wearing an Akatsuki cloak and topped with a shock of auburn hair that was only a few shades darker than her own.

"Hai." Hinome confirmed as she continued to examine the man before her who sat with the ankle of one leg resting on the opposite knee, his chin perched in his right hand with his elbow supported by the arm of the chair, and his left arm resting across his lap.

"Please, sit." He then requested, the timbre of his voice insisting that it was not an offer, but a cleverly disguised demand despite the languid raising of his arm in a motion to the chair across from him.

She moved forward, unclasping the cloak from around her neck and draping it over the back of the chair before moving to sit. Hinome was naturally too keyed up by the mass amounts of sheer power rolling off the man seated not five feet from her to relax completely, but was able to feign it to some degree by sitting far back in the chair, clasping her hands lightly in her lap, and crossing one knee over the other.

"I am Pein; however, please refer to me as Leader. Although I'm sure you're curious as to your reason for being brought here on such short notice, I must ask you something. What do you know of Akatsuki? Goals, methods, everything." He asked, his gaze boring into hers as if he could read her mind simply through persistence.

"Not much," Hinome admitted after a few moments of silence, her mind picking through what she wanted to say next. She could lie and say she didn't know anything, but, she felt that if she did, he would know and would not react well. "I'm almost positive that you plan to capture all nine bijuu, though to what end I am uncertain. Other than that, I can conclude that you have business that requires attention outside of Ame, otherwise there would be no need for Akatsuki to travel as much as they do." she began, her eyes drifting momentarily to the Go board that'd been obscured by the arm of Leader's chair. "But, I can also figure that, judging by the modern construction of this building, the organization has quite a bit of money. That suggests that Akatsuki takes missions offered by unallied villages. So, I assume your fist goal was monetary stability, which you've clearly achieved, followed by the acquirement of the bijuu, which is still in the process of being completed."

Pein regarded her momentarily, head tilting a bit. "You're quite observant… Would you care to play?" he then asked, motioning to the board with the hand he'd removed from beneath his chin.

She gave a shrug, followed by a nod as the Akatsuki leader picked up the board supported by a stand and placed it between them. Hinome had to shift a bit to be closer to the edge of the chair so she could reach the board as Leader straightened up as well. "Any preference as to color?" he then inquired, the female glancing up to him a moment before picking up the bowl of small black stones.

"Now then… you admit to being unfamiliar with Akatsuki's main purpose. I will explain." Pein stated as he placed his first piece on one of the intersects of the lines carved deep into the board. "Our ultimate aim is to use the power of the captured bijuu to control the tide of wars. More specifically, to make them cease." At this, Hinome glanced up from the board after placing her piece, clearly not expecting such a goal. He had to be insane; there was no other logical explanation. "By harnessing the power of the bijuu, we can ensure that countries will cease their constant fighting under threat of being destroyed. That way, there will be no more pain or suffering by people who have done nothing to deserve it."

As he spoke, they'd been taking turns placing pieces in a definite battle of minds, though through the mental cloud of planning, Hinome could easily detect by the way he spoke that it was from experience. Rain had always been a battleground between nations, and if she were to assume that'd he'd always worn the Ame hitai-ate that he currently did, he'd probably grown up constantly surrounded by death. He most certainly had been alive during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, and small countries like Ame were no doubt hit the hardest.

She thought he had finished, but after placing another piece on the board, he began to speak once again. "The human species in naturally violent. We seek to dominate those weaker than ourselves. When there is one power that is above all other and prevents this senseless domination, the world will be at peace. I will be the God of a new world order, and over the generations, the need for shinobi will be non-existent, and further on down the line, after generations free of conflict, the notion of fighting will seem foreign and undesirable."

Hinome regarded him a moment before he turned his eyes up to meet hers, curiosity as to her view of his plan smoldering in their depths. "Although I do not fully agree as to the method, nor do I believe that it will work out exactly as you hope, the ultimate goal is a noble one." Her answer was given in her natural soft tone, though her eyes were steady even as they glanced down at the board when she placed another stone.

"I see." Came a simple reply, followed by a short stretch of silence.

"What do you know about me?" Hinome then asked, finally raising her eyes to meet those of the aristocratic man across from her.

She was gifted by the ghost of a smile before he began speaking.

"Makijiku Hinome, twenty-one years old, former Jounin of Konohagakure, acted as ANBU Captain and Assistant Captain for one year a piece before taking over as head of a division of the Konoha Hospital. You're accomplished in the field of medical ninjutsu and are one of the remaining members of a declining clan from the Land of Whirlpools. Also, while in ANBU, you earned a reputation in the Bingo Book as 'The Kitsune of Ten-Thousand Blades' and defeated high-level clones of two of my men, Hoshigake Kisame and Uchiha Itachi." Pein rattled off, placing another stone on the board.

"Impressive… But, you forgot to mention that I'm an Aquarius, my least favorite color is white, I spent one year as a Maiko while on my first mission as a Jounin, and I can't eat red or dark meat." Hinome commented, almost grinning while the man across from her let out a soft chuckle.

"Fair enough… Now, I feel compelled to answer the question that we've been dodging since your arrival, your reason for being here at all. I'm certain you're aware that Akatsuki previously had a vast decrease in numbers. We're now in the process of obtaining the seventh bijuu, and the higher the number of tails the bijuu possess, the more difficult they are to extract. For the last three bijuu, we require ten members to provide enough chakra to make the extractions a success." Pein explained, watching the girl closely. "And it is on these grounds that I request your assistance in completing the goal of the Akatsuki."

After placing her piece in the last available spot on the board, Hinome sat back in her chair, unafraid to meet his gaze. "To join means I will become the epitome of evil in the eyes of those unaware of Akatsuki's true goal, the ultimate traitor of the human race, the participation in the extraction of my friend's Kyuubi, and finally, his death," she closed her eyes, tapping the tips of her thumbs together, "However, to refuse means death. I don't need to have it spelled out for me. I decided that from now on I would be selfish, because I want to live. Therefore, I accept your invitation." She said almost tonelessly, her eyes opening once again to find Leader still staring impassively at her.

"That is very admirable, sacrificing your friend for the good of all… And I will be sure to inform you that I do not care whether or not you fully agree with my methods. As long as you do not do anything counterproductive to them, there won't be a problem." Pein clarified, looking over the board. "And it seems you've beaten me. Well done." Hinome nodded, glancing up when the door she'd seen Kakuzu exit through swung open and a man unlike anything she'd ever seen before entered.

At first, she didn't even think he was human. Large, verdant leaf-like structures curled up around his torso, of which one half was pure white like new paper, and the other half seemed to be made of the darkest shadow. He regarded her with impassive golden eyes as he strode closer, stopping beside Pein's chair. At this distance, Hinome could see that the leafy structures were actually closer in appearance to the jaws of a Venus flytrap. His hair was cut short and almost as green as his peculiar appendages, which opened a bit more when he reached out to hand something to Pein. In his palm was a silver ring, which was taken into Leader's hand and examined.

"Thank you, Zetsu." Pein commented, the plant-man, as Hinome decided him to be, nodded before turning his gaze on the young woman.

"**Can we eat her?"**

'_Of course not. If we were allowed to, we wouldn't have had to bring the ring.'_

Hinome tilted her head visibly, regarding the newcomer with a critical eye. At first, she thought she was hearing things, but then it occurred to her that either this Zetsu was speaking in two different voices just to fuck with her, or, there were actually two different beings that were conversing. Now all she had to do was figure out if she was more perturbed by the fact that this person had not only a split personality but a split body as well, or that he had asked if he could _eat_ her.

Her attention returned to Leader when he held out the ring to her, pinched between his thumb and index finger. "Wear this on your left pinkie finger, and do not take it off. It will grant you access to our headquarters here and will act as a communicator so you will know when I call for you."

Hinome took the ring, looking it over a moment. The kanji for 'sky' was set in a background that was unusually similar to her eye color, but the ring appeared overall too big.

"Whose ring was this previously?" she inquired, looking up to Pein who in turn gave another half-smirk.

"Orochimaru's. We recovered it from his destroyed base in Sound when Itachi's little brother defeated the Sanin." The male explained, Hinome giving the piece of metal a slight look of disgust which disappeared when she gave her head a slight shake. Wearing it was not going to poison her. Hopefully.

Pursing her lips, she slipped it on the designated finger and did her best not to let her surprise show when it shrank to the exact size of her little finger. However, she was not prepared from the pain that shot straight through her arm afterwards, right to her spine then up into her brain. Her nails dug into the edge of the chair arms as she closed her eyes like doing so would make the pain disappear. Her lips pressed into thin line as the connection began infecting every cell in her brain before traveling throughout her nervous system and the rest of the tissue in her body. It felt like the cells were rapidly exploding, causing her body to burn from the inside out. Then, as soon as it started, it stopped, and she felt how her tense muscles began to cramp. She forced her fingers to release their death grip on the chair and opened her eyes to find that her nails, not the skin beneath them, had turned flat black. Shifting her foot a bit, she found the same discoloration on her toe nails.

"Well… that's interesting." She murmured shakily once she could find her voice, splaying her fingers out against the backdrop of brown leather.

Pein managed a half-smile and a whisper of a chuckle. "Welcome to Akatsuki. It seems that all of Konoha's talent hadn't left with Itachi." He commented, getting to his feet. Hinome, taking it as a sign to do so, stood as well and re-donned her cloak. Despite her body functioning properly and steadily, her appendages felt disconnected, like phantom limbs. It was disconcerting, to say the least.

"For the time being, Tobi will be under your govern once again, Zetsu," this earned a series of unpleasant grumbles, "and Hinome, you will be paired with Deidara. He's primarily a mid to long range fighter, so your short to mid range style will allow you to cover all bases. Also, I would be appreciative if you would act as our resident medic if you're here when any of our members returned injured." Leader explained, his eyes tracing her form momentarily.

"Zetsu, fetch Deidara and inform him of the situation. Hinome, you may wait here for Deidara to come and retrieve you. I'll leave it to him to fill you in on everything you will need to know as a member." Pein then stated, the walking Venus flytrap heading out through the door that Hinome could only conclude lead to the 'members only' area of the base.

She gave a soft nod before wandering over to the scroll bearing what highly resembled her clan's seal before reaching up to touch the parchment.

"Leader," she spoke softly, feeling the man's gaze bore into the back of her head. "Yes, Hinome-san?"

"This scroll… It is fake." she said after a moment before dropping her hand back to her side. It was a scroll meant to expose the dishonest, but all in all, it was just a clever copy that was completely ineffective. "The chakra signature is not of my clan, and even then, the strokes are incorrect and the infusion is mediocre at best."

She turned to find the Rinnegan-wielding male regarding her with a faint smile. "Then, I suppose it would be a good idea for you to prove your worth and create one that does its job…" he mused, Hinome giving a soft nod.

"I will try to finish it by tonight…"

She watched as her new commander and chief spun gracefully and strode from the room, the door shutting soundlessly behind him. The female meandered around, examining the other scrolls and taking a peek at a few that were stacked on the one bookshelf while she recounted what she'd newly discovered.

One: Pein was a madman and a megalomaniac. Plain and simple.

Two: Deidara, who was supposed to have died in a battle with Uchiha Sasuke, was alive.

Three: There was a member by the name of Tobi whom Zetsu didn't like and she'd never, ever heard of before in all her travels.

And four: She'd have to make sure not to be alone with Zetsu if she could help it.

Hinome spun around when the she heard the doorknob begin to turn and watched as the door swung open, revealing a blonde male who, at first glance, was fairly androgynous. Though, when he spoke, his gender was certain.

"So. You're the new one, yeah." The Akatsuki who she knew to be Deidara commented, looking over her form despite most of it being concealed by the cloak draped around her shoulders and down nearly to her ankles. "Let's go, hmm. There's lots to see." He added, beckoning her over and standing aside to let her pass through the door first before closing it and motioning her down the hall that stretched ahead of them.

Deidara reminded her slightly of Ino for some odd reason, probably between the blue eyes, blonde hair and forelock. His Akatsuki cloak was open, unlike Leader's had been, and revealed that he was wearing a black shirt with a deep neckline over a mesh shirt, and black pants held in place by a white belt. She could also see where his pants were tucked into the stirrups that covered a majority of his shoe. That was one accessory she couldn't see herself wearing.

After opening another door, they ascended a flight of stairs, and at the top Hinome found herself in a large tatami room with rice paper walls that help only a low table off to the far right.

"Leader doesn't really want us trekking through the base covered in mud, blood, or what have you. So if your cloak gets dirty or damaged, you can just leave it on the table and Leader will either have it sent out to be cleaned, or to Kakuzu to be sewn up, yeah." Hinome gave him a strange look at the mention of Kakuzu, which caused the blonde to chuckle amiably. "Kakuzu is a tightwad, yeah. He makes and fixes all our cloaks on site to keep from paying the extra money to have it made, hm."

From what Deidara could tell, the petite woman beside him seemed borderline amused and concerned by that fact, but he continued with the tour first pointing to a door off to the left where the wall was actually solid wood.

"That's the medical room, yeah. And I guess Leader wants you to be in charge of the room, right?" Hinome nodded in response.

"Well, you can explore that room later. There's not really anything to see in it right now, yeah." He added, shrugging before leading her through another shoji door opposite where they stood that opened into the Akatsuki equivalent of a living room. It was considerably larger than the last room they were in, paneled again with dark wood with three large couches of black leather and several matching chairs near an intricate quarter-circle fireplace in the corner. There was a sturdy wood coffee table in the middle of the seating arrangement and a large bookcase near the fireplace that was completely filled with a mess of books and scrolls.

"This is our living room, though, not many of the members are too social, yeah." Deidara explained, shrugging lightly. Besides Kisame, there really wasn't anyone to talk to around here. Kakuzu just always seemed pissed off when he had to be around other people, and Hidan had a way of getting on your nerves pretty quickly. Tobi was, well, Tobi. Konan was okay, but, she wasn't much into banter and usually just left the room when things started to get out of hand. Leader, he didn't converse much outside of 'business', and Itachi, you could just forget about it. Not that he wanted to talk to that prick anyway.

Although he caught her gazing almost longingly at the bookshelves, he lead her through an open doorway on the right into a room containing a billiards table and another small gathering of chairs around a low table at the other end. There was a low set of shelves that contained what looked like game boards of sorts and a couple decks of playing cards. "Well, this is the billiards room, yeah. And this," he explained, leading her through yet another open doorway, "is where we can catch the elevator again." Indeed, this room contained another set of elevator doors. Once they were inside again, Hinome noticed that the elevator had a set of doors on the other side as well, making it clear that it was a double elevator.

Deidara explained to her how the 'stagger system' worked. Only every other floor, with the exception of a few floors that were connected by stairs, actually had something on it. The space between the floors was used for gathering a majority of the water that gathered in the village and converting it into steam to heat the floor above it in winter, or channel it up through the pipes and out the pipe of the statue in summer. It also helped keep people on one floor from being disturbed by noise coming from another. He also let her know that, depending on which button she pushed, decided which door would open. That explained why there was twice as many buttons as there were accessible floors. He went on to warn her that not all rooms on one floor could be accessed by passing through either of the doors. Not all of the floors wrapped around from one side of the elevator to the other, so, you had to know where the room you were going to was located and how you could get to it. It really was a confusing setup until you got used to it.

He showed her to the next floor, containing a library that was practically overflowing and a moderately large study room with a long table, capable of holding a lot of books without having to stack them. These rooms were connected around either side of the elevator by stretches of hallway for simplicity's sake. The inhabited floor above that contained their bedrooms and cloak room, both of which Deidara promised to show to her at the end of the tour. Then came the kitchen and dining room, connected at only one end unlike the library and study room. Next was the roof, which had to be accessed via stairwell that could be accessed by a door next to the pantry. Once Hinome found out that Zetsu kept a greenhouse on the roof, she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to spend much time up there, until she learned it was also used as a space for training and sparring, making it inevitable.

Deidara then lead her back to the bedroom/cloak room floor, taking her first to the cloak room. "This is where we keep the cloaks we're not currently wearing, yeah. And where all the new ones go once they're made." He walked to the far end of the room, where the shortest of the robes were located. "These were Sasori-danna's. Well, his smaller ones, yeah. They're still probably…" he cut off as he picked up a hanger and held the cloak out, eyeballing the size of the garment to the young woman behind him. "Definitely too big, but, until Kakuzu can get your own made, they'll have to do. You don't _have_ to wear it around the base, some members do and some don't. It's all personal preference, yeah." He stated as Hinome took the cloak into her arms, murmuring a 'Thank you.'

"You're pretty quiet, yeah." Deidara noted, looking down to the girl as he lead her toward the bedrooms.

"I'm not quiet, usually. I just really don't have much to say." She admitted, shrugging her one shoulder. "Not that you're not interesting, but, what can one really say when being given a tour? 'Oh, what a nice color carpet. However do you keep it so clean?' seems hardly appropriate." Hinome added, giving a soft, slightly lopsided smile when her new partner let out a chuckle.

"I guess you're right, yeah. And this is Kakuzu's room. We can get you measured now so you can get at least one cloak before the end of the week." He then said, pointing to the first door on their right. He gave a knock, getting a gruff reply to enter, before heading in with Hinome following behind him. There was a low stool set up in the middle of the room, though she couldn't make out much else since the whole area seemed to be content hiding in the shadows. Kakuzu was sitting hunched in a chair near a solid looking desk with a measuring tape in one hand. His cloak had been removed and was draped over the back of his chair, though his hat and mask remained in place.

"We're here to get Hinome-san fitted, yeah." The blonde explained, Kakuzu motioning for her to step onto the stool as he got to his feet.

"I can't measure you with that cloak on." He pointed out gruffly, Hinome blinking in remembrance before tossing Sasori's cloak to Deidara and undoing the clasp on her own cloak so it lay pooled on the floor around her feet.

"Arms out." The masked-man ordered, beginning by measuring her height, followed by the length from the first knuckle of her middle finger, across the front of her body and to the corresponding spot on the opposite hand. Next came her bust, which she wasn't exactly comfortable with, followed by her waist then her hips, then the distance from her shoulders to nearly mid-calf.

"150, 117, 80, 51, 83, 127." The male rattled off, writing down the measurements in centimeters on a small note pad. "Of course, there will be some room extra room for maneuverability." Kakuzu added before using his hand to wave her off since she was no longer needed.

Deidara looked over the girl critically as she stooped to get her cloak, brow creasing lightly. How could she possibly be healthy? Sure, she was pretty damn small, but, when she turned sideways she almost disappeared. He led her from the room, giving her the Akatsuki cloak again. "How the hell are you still living, hm?" he soon asked, though he only got a look of surprise in return.

"Excuse me?" Hinome quipped, eyebrow arching sharply.

"Yeah, you're short, but, there's nothing to ya. Are you sure you're not a walking skeleton or something, hm?" he inquired, poking her side experimentally, only to find that her skin didn't give way and he was met immediately met by sturdy muscle.

"Jealous?" she then retorted, looking over him. "I've never been able to keep on extra weight, so, I've always been like this. Is that a problem?" Hinome added quickly, the male frowning softly.

"No, hm. I was just saying. I just don't want a weak partner is all." The blonde replied, hands up defensively. Hinome regarded him coolly until he sighed. "Sorry, yeah. I won't bring it up again." He grumbled, obviously not pleased with having to apologize for speaking his mind. But, if it was her or Tobi, he'd choose her any day. And it wouldn't be beneficial if she gave him a hard time whenever they worked together. She seemed to be placated by his apology and instead turned her intense gaze elsewhere. After a sigh, Deidara began leading her further down the hall.

"And I am not short." He heard her mumble, but chose not to comment. She didn't even reach his shoulder. Yeah, she was short.

"You know where Kakuzu's room is, and this is Zetsu's, Hidan's, Kisame's, Itachi's, mine, yours, Tobi's, and Leader and Konan share the room at the end." The bomber explained, giving no inclination as to what he thought about the relationship of the two original members of Akatsuki as he stopped outside her door. "I'll leave you to settle in, yeah. If you need anything, just come get me. Also, we generally respect each others' privacy. But, almost all of us put chakra seals on our doors when we're away, just in case. " he said, giving her another once-over before turning and heading toward his own bedroom.

Hinome watched him disappear into his own living quarters before inhaling deeply and proceeding past the heavy wooden door into her own. Thanks to the city's early morning light that streamed in through the open curtains of the large window opposite the door, she was able to see the room well enough to locate the double bed in the far left corner of the room, dressed in red sheets with black pillows and matching comforter. At the sight of a place to rest her head, she became painfully aware of how tired she was. Especially now that the excitement had worn off. She used her foot to close the door while the tunnel vision she'd developed on the bed drew her forward, removing her pouches and dropping them, and her cloaks, at the foot of the bed. She made her way to the window, drawing the heavy black shades over the window, and after plopping down heavily, she undid all 16 buckles keeping her boots on her feet in record time.

Once she was barefoot, she curled up and began to drift off as soon as she was wrapped in the silken sheets. It vaguely occurred to her that it was probably seven or eight in the morning, but, she really didn't give a damn that she was screwing up her sleep schedule. Wanting sleep now rather than later, Hinome decided to further explore and set up her room once she was operating on full power again. And now, snuggled in between layers of fine linens, Akatsuki's newest member gave herself over to darkness and the rest it brought.

* * *

A/N: There's chapter three for ya. The funny thing was, I wrote the last paragraph before practically passing out myself! Had a busy day, so, I was very, very tired by the time I got around to finishing this chapter. Thanks again for reading!


	4. Triplicate

Axiomatic

Chapter Four: Triplicate

* * *

Hinome's brain awoke slowly, giving it time recount the previous day's events while she lay with her eyes shut, beginning to stretch her body before finally sitting up and looking around the room. It was still dark, so, she leaned out of bed slightly to tug aside one of the curtains over the window. The sliver of muted sunlight was enough to let her look around and make out the rest of the features of her bedroom.

Beside her on the opposite side of the window was a desk made of dark wood with a matching chair, and a bookshelf against the opposite wall just waiting to be filled. In the corner diagonal to where the bed was placed stood a dresser stacked four drawers high, a small closet with the door wide open, and beside the closet was a door that was slightly ajar, which Hinome suspected lead to a bathroom. She turned her head to look at the wall beside her bed, reaching out to touch the drywall painted the same deep red as her sheets. All the room's furnishings were black, including the rectangular headboard of the bed. Even the floor was dark wood.

'_Nothing like bearing your team colors,'_ She thought, letting out a soft chuckle as she slipped out of bed and stretched before quickly re-braiding her hair and pulling her boots back on. She then bent down to gather her pouches before proceeding to the desk. Hinome sorted out the scrolls containing actual belongings from scrolls containing… other things before placing the non-domestic scrolls back into her pouch and picking up her clothing scroll. Might as well start somewhere.

An hour of unsealing and arranging later, Hinome looked around her new bedroom with a hint of satisfaction. Her clothing was nicely dispersed between the closet and dresser, her brushes, ink stones and inkwells were arranged neatly on the desk with blank scrolls in one of the drawers, books were stacked on the bookshelf, taking up the entire available surface area. The bathroom contained a sink, set into a fixture containing a few drawers that were now filled with medical supplies, a mirror overtop a medicine cabinet holding general painkillers, along with all things necessary for dental hygiene, a toilet, and a Westernized bathtub and shower combination, the ledge where the wall met the tub providing a place for her to put shampoo and soap.

Everything fit nicely. Except the single square picture frame she held in her hands. Hinome stood and stared for a long while before letting out a frustrated sigh. After another minute or so, she set the picture frame on the back corner of her desk with the faces towards the wall before turning away and walking out of the room. She'd come back to that later.

She wasn't sure where she was going until she reached the elevator and her stomach decided for her. After being too distracted to sit down and eat anything substantial in the last day and a half, her stomach felt hallow and almost painfully empty. Hinome let out a huff, entering the elevator and hitting the button that would cause the door to open to the hall connecting the kitchen to the dining room. She could sense several chakra signatures in the kitchen, and as she entered, she glanced around to take note of the shinobi scattered throughout the kitchen.

She recognized the man seated at the table without having to think about it; Hoshigake Kisame. His robe was draped over the back of the sideways chair he was sitting on, one arm resting on the table and his legs stretched out. He was dressed the in the same style as Deidara had been beneath his cloak, except his arms weren't covered and showed that the shirt we was wearing came down to nearly mid-bicep. He turned to look at her as she paused in the doorway, a grin spreading across his features as he set down the sake bottle he'd just taken a sip from.

"Well, look who it is!" He exclaimed in his natural deep rumble, his smirk stretching into a wide grin. "It's the little Kitsune…" he teased, Hinome giving him a deadpan expression.

"I have a name, you know…"She pointed out, leaning against the doorframe.

"Hi Hinome-san!" The other male, this one wearing an orange mask, chirped while waving enthusiastically. He was seated across from Kisame with a half-finished bowl of cereal in front of him.

"Looks like someone knows it," she then commented before proceeding into the kitchen. She wasn't exactly sure how fast word got around here, but, she was both surprised and slightly pleased to find he knew her name already.

"Guess you're the new one then, aye?" The gilled man asked, head following her as she walked across the kitchen and behind the island counter to the refrigerator.

"Yeah," Hinome murmured as she searched through the fridge, soon pulling out a plastic wrapped styrofoam dish of chicken before continuing to search through the cabinets and pantry to find the ingredients and cookware she would need. She wasn't surprised that neither of the men offered to help.

"How're you liking it here so far?" he inquired, watching as she set about cooking.

"It's fine. I haven't been here for long and haven't really gotten a look at how things operate on a regular basis. But, the building design's a little… unusual?" she wagered, boiling water for rice as she began cooking the chicken in a little water in a frying pan. She glanced over to the table to find Tobi's bowl of cereal empty, though he didn't appear to have moved. Her forehead creased but she returned to her food preparation.

Kisame's only response was a deep rumble in his chest, which she took to be a chuckle. Again, she wasn't exactly sure what to think of such a reaction. Then there was also the surprise that she was having a perfectly normal conversation with a S-Rank criminal. Perhaps it was from having been in contact with people who acted like the classic sleezy impression of a criminal that made her more tempered toward their, _her_, world. Not all nukenin talked about scheming and how many people they killed any chance they got.

Tobi soon bounced up, taking his bowl and spoon to the sink and washing them quickly before placing them on the rack to dry.

"Does Hinome-san want Tobi's help?" The masked man asked, Hinome turning to find him extremely exceeding the bounds of personal space, rendering her momentarily speechless. Close proximity wasn't something she was particularly accustomed to anymore, even while in battle.

"Uhhh…. No thank you, Tobi…" She replied, touching her index finger against his mask where his forehead would be before pushing him backwards until he was several feet away. Seeing as he spoke in third person, she found it likely to assume that he was Tobi, and she knew the other male in the room to be Kisame. But, there was also the probability he possessed some split personality as Zetsu seemed to.

"Alright!" Seeming unperturbed, he made his way cheerily out of the room, Hinome watching him go with an unidentifiable look resembling wariness.

"Is there something wrong with him too?" she then asked as she turned back to her food, using the wooden spoon to mix the contents of her cooking pots.

"To tell the truth, I really don't know." Kisame admitted before straightening a bit. "Hey, I've been wondering for a while. How'd you get that nickname?"

"Kitsune? Didn't you give me that one?" She replied, stirring her chicken-vegetable-and-broth combination innocently. Of course she knew he was referring to the whole 'ten-thousand blades' tag, but, the only time she ever referred to as such was in the Bingo Book, and when opponents she faced knew of the alias assumed she actually carried ten-thousand throwing blades.

"You know 'what nickname'… How do you do it?" he asked, looking over her as she spooned a little rice and a little of her stir fry mixture onto a plate before getting a pair of chopsticks from the utensil drawer. There was no way anyone, not even someone his size, would be able to carry that many weapons and still be able to move.

"Well… It's more like nine-thousand, first of all. People tend to exaggerate." Hinome explained as she began picking at the food on her plate after taking Tobi's vacated spot. "And as to 'how', well, I'm not going to tell you." She said simply as she popped a piece of chicken into her mouth.

His smirk stayed affixed to his face as he regarded her. "_Only_ nine-thousand? And why so secretive?"

"Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now would it?" She retorted, arching her eyebrow lightly as she chewed.

His smirk broadened in response. "I guess not, Kitsune." He teased, the girl giving him another one of her infamous deadpan glares before returning to her food.

Kisame took another sip of his sake, looking up when another figure opened the room.

"Morning princess," he teased, the blonde tossing him a half-assed glare in response. Deidara was just making his way into the kitchen, obviously just having woken up by the way his hair was mussed and his topknot had been replaced by half-ponytail with the tie beginning to slip. His forelock was tucked back behind his ear, and his now visible pair of cerulean eyes were slightly clouded.

"It's nearly two in the afternoon, yeah. And you try being up for nearly 24 hours, getting an hour of sleep, then operating correctly the next day. It's not gonna happen, yeah." The blonde retorted, leaning against the island counter and finally taking note of the female seated quietly across from the shark nin.

"Shit. You were up before me too, Hinome-san?" he then inquired, his previous frown induced by Kisame taking on a more pout-like appearance that made the young woman laugh softly.

"Yeah… Sorry Deidara-san, but, once I'm awake I can't just lay in bed for another two hours. I had to do something." She mused, giving a half shrug before eating a little more of what was on her plate. At least she was in a better mood than yesterday, the blonde noted.

"You didn't make any extra of that, did you, yeah?" he then asked, eyeing the steaming mixture of chicken and vegetables in a thick broth and rice that was contained in a small heap on her plate.

"Nope!" Hinome replied cheekily, a grin stretching across her features that caused Deidara to pout further as his stomach let out a rumble, "I only make what I think I can eat." She added, missing the way Kisame eyed the child-like portion on her plate. What she _thought _she could eat? That had to be a joke.

Yet, as Deidara set about making himself scrambled eggs and toast, staples of the bachelor-diet, the ex-Kiri nin watched as Hinome set down her chopsticks and left about a quarter of a cup of food on her plate. Guess she wasn't joking. She stared at the portion for a long time before picking up her chopsticks again and forcing herself to finish. She wasn't a fast eater, so, it made sense that she would become full sooner than someone who ate quicker. But, she honestly looked like she was willing her body to take the extra bit of food without rebelling.

Deidara soon sat beside Kisame, who'd by this time nearly emptied the sake bottle he'd been nursing for the last hour or so. The two engaged in pointless conversation, something Hinome had never been fond of. At least, not until she realized how much people said during the day that was nothing but words to fill the emptiness. That was when she learned to be content with silence, especially since it allowed her mind time to work without having some immediate reaction expected of her.

What still plagued her, despite Pein's explanation, was her reason for being here. Surely, there were others more suited for the job than she. There were other medics, if that was really what they needed her for. She had a few tricks up her sleeve, sure. But, there was still a huge gap of information that made her ask the question 'why me?' Hinome began subconsciously tapping her fingernails in a score on the wood table, head lowered with her hand resting on her neck as if to support the weight of the heavy topic on her mind.

It was the sharp snap of fingers that caused her to straighten abruptly, icy eyes opened wide in surprise before they narrowed slightly and looked to the blonde-haired owner of the hand.

"What the hell was that for?" she demanded, clearly not taking well to having her personal moment interrupted.

"Geeze. Just wondering if you wanted to go up and train in a bit, yeah. Don't bite my head off." Deidara grumbled, snatching his arm back to his body as if she just might bite his hand off instead of his head.

She regarded him a moment before sighing. "Sorry, not today. I have to do something for Leader." Hinome explained, having relaxed back into her natural demure posture. Deidara's pout increased, then his head tilted a bit. He had been looking forward to learning a bit about his partner's fighting style, but, the mention of having a job to do for Leader piqued his interest.

"What kind 'something', yeah? Or is it a secret?" he teased lightly, leaning forward a bit. Hinome gave a soft smirk in return. It shouldn't do any harm telling them.

"One of the hanging scrolls in the first room, the one Pein met with me in, was fake. I have to make a new one." She explained, shrugging a bit as she got up to wash her plate.

"A scroll? What was it supposed to do, yeah?" the blonde asked, twisting a bit in his chair to regard her as she scrubbed.

"Well, basically, it is capable of detecting a certain fluctuation in chakra that occurs when a person lies. No matter how outwardly capable you are of disguising any tells, this technique is incredibly sensitive and powerful. It can even detect unusual reactions in masked chakra." Hinome explained as she dried her hands and the dish before placing it back in the cabinet.

"That's pretty cool, yeah. How'd you learn to make it?" he inquired, Hinome turning to study him a moment before deciding it to be another harmless question.

"My father taught me." she finally said, crossing her arms lightly over her chest in an outward display that she didn't wish to further discuss the topic. Kisame caught the subconscious reaction to her mind trying to block them out. Deidara, however, clearly didn't understand the action, but before he could ask another question, Kisame interrupted by asking if he was ready to get his ass kicked.

"Yeah right, hm. I could kick that blue ass of yours with my eyes closed." Deidara retorted, following suit as Kisame stood. He wasn't sure why he decided to intervene, but, the thought of seeing her make Deidara look like a porcupine before he could blink didn't have as much appeal without having the chance to beat him in a sparring match first.

The two trooped off up the stairwell next to the pantry, leaving Hinome to ponder a moment more before gathering her wits that were scattered about the floor and heading off as well. She took the elevator down to what she dubbed the bedroom floor and headed to her room to retrieve the appropriate scroll and other tools she would need. The scroll she needed had to be unsealed from a smaller scroll, seeing as it was almost half her size and several inches thick. She gathered the scroll and a small cedar box into her arms before proceeding out of her room. After resealing her door, she made her way to the study room by the library.

She rolled out the seven-foot scroll onto the five-foot table, mouth offsetting slightly as she opened the cedar box, removed a small corked bottle of ink and inkwell. After putting a small amount of ink into the inkwell, she used a familiar technique to dip the brush into the ink and twist it smoothly to keep any extra drops from escaping . Hinome stared at the blank paper a moment, determining the appropriate spread of kanji before making the first stroke, which lead to a second, and third, beginning to infuse chakra every few strokes. She completed the four central kanji before adding in the kanji that would work as the triggers.

Although her strokes were quick and fluid, it was nearly five minutes before she finished the scroll and began going through the kata necessary to ensure its effectiveness. The hand seals she used were not the typical sort performed by shinobi to perform jutsu, but a set known as the kuji-in which was used by the earliest ninja.

'_Rin, Kai, Zen, Jin.'_ Exhaling softly, Hinome watched with satisfaction as the writing glowed a vibrant yellow-orange, drying the ink and sealing in the chakra, before fading back to flat black. She took a small stone stamp from the box, along with a container of red paste. She dipped the stamp into the paste, before placing it firmly against the lower corner of the page. It was her mark, her name in kanji with the seal of her clan beside it. The mark was highly distinct, the basis of the mark being exceptionally similar to how the end of a scroll would look, with the center being the peg of the wood around which the scroll was wound, and an outer ring that represented the outer layer of paper on the scroll. The scroll, a symbol of intelligence, was then pierced by what resembled a sai with the handle broken clean off. The sai, a shinobi weapon, showed strength and dignity.

And as everyone knew, intelligence and strength were a deadly combination.

This was the basis upon which Hinome had built herself, improving and increasing not only her mental strength, but her physical as well. Over the years, both had been tested time and time again. But, it was for the best. Without being challenged, she probably would've sunk into some dark pit, incapable of pulling herself out again. She'd been sitting for several minutes, staring at and contemplating what the symbol once represented and how it'd lost half of its meaning once the clan had given up the shinobi life. They'd become so weak…

She got to her feet, exhaling softly before rolling up the scroll and tying it shut. She sooner she got this to Leader, the better she'd feel. Hefting the scroll into her arms, she took a step back and turned only to bump into a male presence, and after they had grasped her shoulders to steady her off-balance form, she found herself face to chest with a pattern of red cloaks on black fabric. That in itself was highly non-descriptive, but when she rose her eyes to meet those of the figure, she felt her heart stutter. The man holding her at arm's length was none other than the first Akatsuki she ever battled; Uchiha Itachi.

Her immediate reaction would've been to send a kick straight into his abdomen, but, her sense of reason caught up with her before she could even so much as tense her muscles. He was no longer her enemy. Kicking him in the stomach, if she could even manage that, would not in any way prove to be a good idea. He'd probably behead her without a second thought. When she had been fighting him, or at least his clone, she had been fighting to keep herself alive and had no other thought but that. Only now that he was close enough for her to touch did it really catch up to her what he had done.

An entire clan, and not some miniscule one like her own, had fallen by his hand in a single night. She'd read the file on the mass-killing during her ANBU days, and the one thing that stuck in her mind the most was the last line, quoted word for word by the lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Uchihah Sasuke. 'He killed them all to see what he was capable of.' To her, that was probably one of the worst excuses that could possibly be given. But, if she had been in Sasuke's position and had just witnessed the murder of her parents, only to receive such an explanation, she probably would have believed it too.

She continued to lock gazes with him, even when his hands had dropped back to his side and she'd regained her balance. To say that he wasn't expecting to see her would be an understatement, especially since during their last encounter she seemed heavily devoted to her team, even facing his own and his partner's clones by herself. It was as if she'd faced them, since she was most definitely unaware of that fact while fighting them. And yet, here she was, her hair grown out and pulled back, eyes as piercing as they had been all those years ago, and her face betraying nothing.

"Itachi-san, if you do not require my assistance in some matter, I must be on my way and you are currently blocking my path," Hinome pointed out, blinking slowly as she met him eye for eye.

After another moment of staring, the Uchiha shifted aside just enough for her to slip past with her scroll and box. His eyes followed her from the room, hearing the soft click of the elevator button being pressed, proceeded by the opening then closing of the door.

This certainly complicated things.

Hinome returned back to the bedroom floor, deciding to try the room Deidara had told her was shared by Leader and a woman named Konan. Knowing this before hand, she wasn't as surprised as she probably should've been when a woman answered the door.

Her hair was almost as peculiar a shade as her own, though while Hinome's was on the lighter side of the spectrum, Konan's was on the darker side. The color was a deep indigo, though the length was indiscernible as her hair was swept up into a twist then pulled into a bun on the side of her head with a white paper rose tucked neatly into the bun. She was quite beautiful, with pale skin, a single stud piercing through just below her bottom lip, and sapphire eyes outlined in thick kohl. The fact that she was also wearing an Akatsuki cloak fully buttoned, much like Leader had been, seemed to pull everything together.

"You must be Hinome-san… Pein spoke quite well of you." Konan spoke, regarding the girl who just about came up past her shoulder.

"I am. And you must be Konan-san. Deidara mentioned you when he was showing me around. I wasn't sure where else to look for Leader at besides here." She admitted, shifting the scroll in her arms a bit.

"Come in… Leader isn't here at the moment, but, I will gladly look over your work." She said in her low, muted tone. Hinome nodded, heading inside the room and gazing around a second. Instead of a bed and general sleeping quarters set up, there was a small sitting room with a circular table and a pair of chairs, toward which Konan was heading. She followed after, setting the scroll down and untying the string that held it closed. After unrolling it, though a majority of it had fallen onto the floor as there was not enough table space, Konan examined the work closely.

"Your calligraphy is exquisite. You have much practice put into it, do you not?" Konan inquired, a single finger gently tracing the brush strokes and taking note of the energy that seemed to thrum upon the contact.

"I do… Scroll making was my clan's occupation, and I made my first one by myself when I was five." Hinome explained, soon sitting in the remaining chair.

"That's very young… But tell me, does it work?" Konan's eyes were shifted from the scroll up to the younger woman across from her.

"Of course it does… Tell me a lie." She requested, her shoulder giving a light shrug.

After a pause, Konan spoke. "My home village is the Village Hidden in the Waterfall."

Although Hinome was not quite sure as to the statement's accuracy, as the woman wore no visible hitai-ate, the angry vermillion the writing turned seemed to point to a falsehood.

Konan managed a faint smile. "Impressive. That's quite a tool." She commented before motioning for Hinome to roll up the scroll, which she quickly did while Konan got to her feet and headed off towards the shadows that hung over the left side of the small room they were in.

As Hinome set the scroll on its side with most of its weight leaning against the table, Konan returned with a tray containing a tea pot with a curl of steam rising lazily from the spout and two small tea cups set delicately atop white saucers. Judging by the aroma, it was an herbal tea, something Hinome could handle having full-flavored.

Never once did she think that she'd be sitting at Akatsuki head quarters, drinking tea with the co-founder of Akatsuki. Konan poured the first round of tea, also asking the first question.

"Hinome-san, I noticed something on your hand when you were unrolling the scroll. That's quite an unusual scar." The blue-haired woman commented, looking to the back of Hinome's non-dominant right hand. Indeed, when you looked close enough, there was a small scar little more than a centimeter in height and width in the exact shape of the kanji for 'seal'. It was almost too perfect.

The female turned her hand a bit and managed a small smile. "It's the only thing that remains from when I first attempted my technique. Now, the technique no longer leaves marks that are nearly as visible."

The technique that Hinome had developed during her first few years as a Chunin used her family's traditions and took them to an entirely new level. For hundreds of years, shinobi had carried around scrolls and pouches containing weaponry. But, carrying large amounts was physically taxing, and you couldn't always reach your scrolls. Therefore, Hinome made the first attempt of sealing a weapon directly into her skin. It left behind a small mark that was only a shade lighter than her skin, and was completely accessible at all times. But, during the first attempt she used slightly too much chakra, which resulted in the scar. After learning how much chakra to use, she began experimenting with different weapons. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, katana, and wire. She came to prefer using simple throwing blades over kunai and shuriken, as she deemed them more accurate, and substituted katana for kodachi since she could wield them more easily, and threw in some wire for traps and senbon for stealth. By channeling a small amount of charka to the seal through touch, she could summon the weapons instantaneously.

There was no real magic to it, just ability. And thus, the Kitsune of Ten-Thousand Blades was born. Not that she only ever used blades, of course. It was just what she was most famous for. Not that she'd tell anyone, of course.

Konan gave a gentle nod. "The first attempt is always the most difficult." She assured, offering a small smile which Hinome returned.

"It will be interesting having another female in the organization. Sometimes, being surrounding by men-children can be quite… annoying." Hinome giving her comment a knowing chuckle.

"Leader seems sensible, at least." Hinome offered, Konan nodding in agreement.

"Itachi isn't too bad either, and neither is Kakuzu when Hidan isn't around." She added. "But, the rest of them can pretty well all be a bit childish at times."

"It could be worse. They could be childish all the time." Hinome replied before emptying her cup after Konan did and immediately pouring them both another cup.

"Pein is going over mission details, so, when he returns there should be something for most of the teams to do." the older woman commented, carefully watching the way in which their newest member held the teapot, with almost just the tips of her fingers curled around the handle and the same portion of her fingers resting on the edge of the lid. There was something well-practiced about her movements that made Konan smile before picking up her cup to take a sip.

"What kind of missions do we get, usually?" Hinome then asked curiously, cradling her own tea cup.

"It depends. We generally take missions from individuals all over. If the price is right, we do just about anything. Typically it's a wealthy businessman or merchant requesting a 'sudden death' of their highest competitor or the acquisition of a particular item in the care of another person. However, there are also missions that are central to the Akatsuki, such as the elimination of someone found to be giving away information on our organization." Konan explained, watching the other female nod lightly in understanding.

"The work of a hidden village done by ten people. That's astounding." Was her reply, which earned a nod.

"Many people don't realize that. They believe we're the ultimate enemy."

"The ultimate enemy is one whose values differ from your own. The same applies to both individuals and to communities. There is no real 'good' or 'evil', just what you believe in and can justify, and what you don't and can't." The ex-Konohagakure nin replied, staring down into her chamomile tea.

"You are quite wise to have realized that so young, despite growing up sheltered," Konan then commented, watching the way the girl's eyes lifted to meet her own, "You bare no psychological scars that point to an unbearable past like many shinobi from this part of the world do. Coming from a great shinobi nation makes you far less aware to what exists past its borders, as long as you are not directly affected."

"But, we all face personal trials that change us. Every encounter and event we have makes a mark on the glasswork of our soul. Some make the surface shine, while others smudge, crack, or completely shatter us."

Again, Konan smiled softly, "Spoken like a true observer. Tell me, why did you become a shinobi, Hinome-san?"

The younger woman's gaze turned inward for a moment before a small smile formed. "Call it necessity."

"In that aspect, we are one in the same." Konan agreed, her gaze shifting up to the door when Pein strode in, regarding the two women gathered around the table drinking tea.

"It seems you've met Hinome-san, Konan." He commented superfluously, which earned a nod from the addressee.

"I have. She's quite a find. And her work is superb." Came her reply as she motioned with a small nod of her head to the scroll propped against the table.

"Excellent. For your service, and especially in the speed which it was completed, I will reward you a bonus consisting of half of the standard amount for one of our A-rank missions. It will be on your desk when you return to your room." Leader replied, "And if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to speak to Konan in private."

Hinome nodded, setting her empty cup down and getting to her feet. With her hands placed one over the other, they rested lightly almost at her knees while she gave a low bow, her arms and hands remaining neatly extended. After verbally thanking Konan for the tea she gave Pein a similar bow before getting her calligraphy box and leaving through the door that'd been left open.

Accompanied by the sound of the door closing behind her, Hinome returned to her bedroom and, lo and behold, there was a stack of money set neatly in the center of her desk. She went over, not exactly sure how much to expect, but after placing the box in the top left hand drawer, she began leafing through the bills. Her eyes grew wider and wider as she counted before letting out a sigh and sitting in the wooden chair in front of the desk.

If she'd gotten this much money as a Jounin in Konoha, well… Hinome shook her head, willing the thoughts into recess while she pulled a small coin purse from her pouch and placed the folded money inside. Maybe she'd go shopping later and restock her weapon supply as she'd initially intended. Her eyes drifted over to the Akatsuki cloak draped over the end of her bed before sweeping to the window.

Though the misty haze, she made out the lines of the crooked buildings, some with wide circular roofs off which the rain poured like waterfalls onto the streets below. Electrical wires swung through the air, providing power to the neon lights scattered throughout the city that advertised everything from inns to bars and 24 hour eateries, and even a few designated places of less noble distinction. There really was everything here for a shinobi, rogue or not.

Her eyes scanned the jagged horizon visible out her window, unsure what to really think. Had she made a terrible mistake in leaving Konoha at all? Was there the slightest chance she wouldn't have been convicted? All clues pointed to no. But, did she have to have stayed a shinobi? Certainly not. Although she was a maiko for only one year, she learned they made quite a decent living, except there was so much hassle that she didn't particularly want to go through. She could've just as easily become a civilian and forgotten the whole thing. Move to some town in Silk or Bird country, find a husband and settle down, have a few kids, then die of would hopefully be natural causes.

But, that didn't really appeal to her. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to marry, more or less have kids. People like her didn't have families. It didn't work out. Ever.

When the hell did she become so concerned with the future? She'd stopped planning ahead a long time ago.

For several hours she sat in silence, chin in the palm of her hand as she gazed emotionlessly out the window. She could've sworn no one spent as much time doing nothing as she did. Despite that the cogs in her mind were always turning, processing new information and dissecting past experiences, Hinome really didn't consider that much of 'doing something'.

The hours ticked by slowly, and soon she felt several presences enter the hallway outside her door and disperse into various rooms. Although she didn't know what time it was, it must be getting late for everyone to be heading to bed. That was something she'd have to get whenever she went into town, a clock.

The sky had darkened considerably, but the open curtains allowed the neon lights and lamps attached to the sides of buildings to stream into her room, allowing her to see quite clearly. At least she had no need for a lamp, unless she decided to close the blinds. Maybe she should get a small one to place on the desk, just in case.

'… _When did I start compiling a shopping list?'_ Hinome frowned softly in mix of confusion and amusement before getting to her feet. That was a sure fire sign she'd been sitting idly for far too long. After sighing, she removed her shoes and stretched, her body giving a series of pops and cracks in protest from having been kept unmoving for so long. She looked around, her gaze resting on the bathroom door. A shower sounded nice.

After washing, Hinome stood beneath the warm stream of water for quite some time, letting the water run down her hair, weighing it down and making her head feel heavier than usual before finally reaching out and turning off the faucets. She let out a sigh, noticing that her mind had become sidetracked again and beginning to wring out her nearly hip-length copper-and-sunshine locks. Once she stepped from the shower and wrapped herself in one of the new deep scarlet towels that'd been in the bathroom when she arrived, she wiped away some of the condensation on the mirror. She'd never been able to kick the habit of wiping off the mirror, but at least there was no one to tell her not to do so because it would leave smudges.

'_Congratulations. You look the same as you did yesterday… but a little more well-rested.' _Hinome thought sarcastically, unable to keep herself from smirking as she made her way from the bathroom and re-dressed, foregoing her shinobi attire in preference of a black sleep-set consisting of a spaghetti strap top and shorts under a loosely-tied silk nemaki bearing a pattern of waves and white cranes. Any more, only people in rural areas, ones deeply rooted in tradition, and those attending festivals ever wore yukata or kimono, but, Hinome had been brought up in the sort of family that thrived on tradition, including traditional dress. Perhaps it was because she was coddled in this style in some of her happiest years that she felt so attached to it.

After towel-drying her hair to a certain degree, she removed a simple kanzashi consisting of a piece of dark wood crafted into the shape of senbon with a red bead adorning one end from the top drawer of her dresser, pinching it between her teeth before crafting her hair with little regard of appearance into a messy, twisted bun before using the hair ornament to secure it in place. A few pieces escaped the bun to fall down her back or into her face, as was inevitable, but Hinome paid no mind as she made her way to sit down on her bed.

Her gaze drifted to her bookshelf, stacked full but containing nothing new. Maybe she should get a few new books while in town too. Or perhaps she should take a look around the library. She'd only gotten a glance while on the tour. It'd been packed floor to ceiling with a combination of scrolls, books, and loose leafs of paper stuck into odd places. After several minutes of rolling the idea in her head, she got to her feet and stretched a bit before sighing faintly and heading from her bedroom towards the elevators.

Upon entering the library, her eyes roved around with interest. Before her were evenly spaced shelves that were set up from one end of the room to the other, though how far they covered to the other side of the room was unknown. Hinome headed off to the first gap on her right, proceeding to stroll down the space between the shelves. This aisle seemed to be a compilation of rare and forbidden jutsu, seeing as a majority of them were scrolls sealed with the marks of various hidden villages. The few villages she noted didn't belong to Akatsuki's collection were her own and Kumo. She could only assume that was because her own village's recorded jutsu, with the exception of those that left with families, were destroyed at some point, and there were no Akatsuki hailing from Kumo to have brought any jutsu with them.

When she emerged from the aisle, she found herself in a small reading area that was framed on the opposite side by an arc of shelves. Walking along the back arc, Hinome's eyes scanned the shelves, and it only took a few feet to realize this shelf was a compilation of novels, ranging from romance to war. Her fingers slid along the book spines, soon resting on _The Tale of Genji_. Her lips curled into a smile as she pulled it off the shelf. It was a well-worn book, showing it's been read many a times. But, that was not surprising as it was probably one of the first true novels ever written. She herself had read it more times than she could count growing up, as it had been her mother's favorite and was asked to read it to her often when she was sick.

Her thumb smoothed across the cover several times before she turned and made her way to sit in one of the plush leather chairs, beside which a lamp with a frosted shade was sitting, several more of its kind scattered around and casting a warm glow on the area. Her legs were pulled up onto the seat of the chair, the spine of the book resting against her thigh while one hand kept the book in place and the other supported her chin.

She'd just started 'The Broom Tree' when she became aware of another presence in the room. They were off to her far left, to the point that she'd have to turn her head just slightly to see them. But instead, she did no such thing and continued reading of Genji's discussion with To no Chujo on women and their inclinations to hide their faults while making sure their attributes were known. Finally, a simple question broke the silence.

"What are you doing awake so late, Hinome-san?" The female tilted her head slightly before shifting her gaze to the Uchiha who stood completely still in the space created by a pair of bookshelves.

"'You speak to one for whom the night has no end. How can she tell the dreaming from the waking?'" Hinome quoted flawlessly in response while returning her gaze to the book's pages. There was another span of silence before the faint rustle of clothing announced the Uchiha had finally moved, though not in the direction she had expected. He moved to sit across from her in the circular cluster of chairs.

The book in his hand was placed on the thigh of the leg he'd crossed over the other, one hand gripping the cover to keep it open while the other rested lazily on the arm of the chair. Hinome glanced up briefly to note that he was not wearing his Akatsuki cloak, but instead an outfit identical to that worn by both Deidara and Kisame, with the exception of a necklace accented by three oval-shaped metal rings. Upon further inspection, she noted that his hitai-ate was not tied around its usual place on his forehead. For several minutes there was nothing spoken, only the sound of pages rustling as they were turned.

"Why are you up so late, Uchiha-san?" she soon inquired, attention not leaving her book until she felt his eyes boring into her. Her own eyes then lifted to meet his gaze. He stared vacantly at her for a short time, as if pondering whether or not to give her a straight answer or an obscuring statement that avoided the question entirely.

"I don't often sleep well. And if at all, not for very long." His deep crimson Sharingan continue to observe her form, able to make out very little of the female fifteen feet from him. After seeing her up close earlier that day, he was familiar with her features, but now her obnoxious hair was a blur of bright golden-orange, her skin a white smudge, and whatever she was wearing, a splash of vibrant red. Despite the fact that his vision had severely deteriorated over the years, he could identify most people by hair color. And hers was one he would not easily misidentify.

"My sister used to have trouble sleeping. She'd sit and watch the forest out the window, and make up stories to go along with the animals she saw." Hinome's comment came as a surprise even to her. It'd been quite a while since she'd spoken of her sister to anyone. She was met only with a nod that was more of an 'I heard you' than a 'That's amusing'. But, she hadn't expected anything more. For only being there a short span of time, and having only one non-volatile encounter with him previously, she learned that he spoke very rarely, if at all.

After a pregnant silence and the sound of Itachi's book closing, he spoke for the second time. "The scroll you were carrying earlier, where did you get it from? I haven't seen it in the library before." Hinome seemed confused a moment as she said nothing, but after marking her page, she shut her own book. "That's because I made it." Such a response was likely to bring about several questions. And surprisingly, Itachi didn't disappoint.

"How." _'How did you make it?' _Despite it evidently being a question, his tone made it into a statement with little effort.

Her brow arched almost incredulously. His demanding nature was grating in some way. It was almost as if you were expected to answer no matter what the question was, just because he was him. Then again, she didn't look almost anything like her family, so, it was unlikely he would've made the connection.

"I'm from the Makijiku clan." Hinome said simply, knowing that explanation was enough.

"A family trade, then. I believe you're the only member of the Makijiku clan to disband from Konoha." Hinome nodded. "That's surprising. Your family always appeared very well-established."

"We are," She replied after a moment. Itachi continued to watch her, and the unasked question hung in the air.

'_Then why did you leave?'_

"But," she began after a long breath," I don't want to die like them; just sitting and waiting for the end to roll around. I want to die knowing I've made the best of my life." Hinome commented softly, as if she'd said it over and over to herself so many times in her head that it was only natural to be spoken aloud.

He didn't give her an answer, but she also couldn't fathom what he would have to say. She sat a moment longer before gathering herself and her book up out of the chair and heading soundlessly out of the library and back to her bedroom. She set _The Tale of Genji _on her desk before reaching over to pick up the photo contained in picture of a smiling family of four; a man with striking crimson hair and bright hazel eyes in a male's kimono and hamaka, with an arm protectively around a petite young woman whose honey-toned hair was swept into a neat bun at the base of her neck with kind jade eyes accented by the pale copper silk of her kimono and golden lily pattern along the base of the cropped sleeves. In the woman's arms, coddled in a pale yellow blanket, was a sleeping baby with a small tuft of dark red hair; and in the arms of the man was the lone survivor of her immediate family, a tiny girl in a pale blue furisode patterned with white ume blossoms to accompany the stark colorlessness of her eyes, her uniquely strawberry-blonde hair swept back and away from her face by two small child-sized combs made of white jade with a floral pattern. She was sitting in the crook of her father's arm and smiling in a warm demure way, much like the elder woman in the picture, while the man was full out grinning.

'_Everything was so perfect back then.'_ Hinome mused before placing the picture more lovingly on the desk and tilting it slightly so she could see it when she woke up. Her family wasn't a weakness to her any longer. She would die for something she cared about; her family. In some ways, she already had. She became a shinobi after her father was killed by two of the same classification; it killed her childhood. She took care of her mother while she was slowly dying; it killed her innocence. She held her sister in her arms while she continued to live on sheer willpower for longer than she needed to; it killed all her thoughts of any kind of future. All that remained was the body. She had managed to fail her mother, and lost the second chance she had in her sister. All of her second chances were used up. Somehow she'd managed to gain a third chance and was still living, body and soul.

The third time's the charm.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sincerely sorry for the long wait. I've gotten so many positive reviews that I knew I had to get another chapter up, but, school simply wouldn't let me have any time to spare. So, on my day off, I cranked out about half of this chapter and finished it off! Thank you so much for letting me know my story wasn't forgotten about! Until next time~**


	5. Tatonnement

Axiomatic

Chapter Five: Tatonnement

* * *

Over a year, and not a word.

Naruto frowned as he found himself brooding again over the loss of another one he'd cared a lot about. Hinome had been gone over twelve months, and even now there was a sense of discontent among those who'd known her. She was always so kind, selfless, humorous… Why hadn't they seen anything wrong? Tsunade had been visibly upset when she learned of the circumstances, seeing as she'd been told only that they had a suspect pertaining to the murders of the two ANBU and nothing more but had given the seizure order anyway.

Had she known who the suspect was, perhaps she would've specifically sent Shikamaru or Lee to get her. They would've explained what was going on.

The blonde pulled himself to his feet, standing from the crouch he'd been holding atop the Hokage Monument for several hours. He had training soon with Kakashi-senpai, seeing as it was nearly two hours past the time they'd scheduled to meet up. As Naruto made his way to the training grounds, he gazed around at the flowing of crowds through the streets; oblivious to the turmoil within their great village.

ROOT had been oddly silent for some time, which could only mean that Danzou was up to something. Tsunade had been increasingly wary, the ANBU had been tense, and the shinobi of the village were bordering on paranoid. More paranoid than usual, anyway. And of course, amidst it all, the Elders remained ignorant. They were still stuck dutifully in their old-world ways and morals, refusing to take a second look around and realized that there was, and has been, a lot of change going on not only within the village, but within the entire shinobi nation.

There was the Akatsuki, whose goal everyone knew to be as world domination, and Team Hebi, lead by the rogue Konoha shinobi Uchiha Sasuke, who always seemed to be getting in the way and causing trouble for other nations despite his true goal of redeeming his family name.

Sasuke. He'd fallen so far. He was lost now; along with so many opportunities he could've had. Naruto hadn't thought about him at any deep level some time. He was busy keeping up with training, in both the physical and political sense for the time in the not-so-distant future he would take over as Hokage. Not to mention he and Hinata were planning their wedding, though Hinata was taking care of most of the planning aspect with the help of Ten-Ten, now a mother, Ino, and her sister Hanabi, who had recently become engaged. She had insisted he focused on learning as much as he can so that he would be able to lead their village, because being a great husband would come naturally.

He passed habitually through Team Seven's old training area, the one where on their first true exercise as a team he'd been tied to a large stump. Though he had been angry at the time, that warm afternoon was now one of his most fond memories. They'd continued to train there ever since, so, more memories seemed to pile up atop one another, like stacks of paper piled haphazardly in some basement gathering dust. Managing a wry smile, he paused to gaze up at the unblemished blue sky, and the thought that'd occurred to him time after time once again sprang to the front of his mind.

'_Sasuke… Where are you?'_

_

* * *

_

Deep within the Village Hidden in the Waterfall, a small band of people sat huddled close together around a miniscule fire within the mouth of a cramped, dreary cave. Well, except for one, who'd sat as far away from the others as possible in the minimal space. "Come over here Sasuke-kun… It's warm…" came a whiny female voice, followed by a mocking, sickly sweet male voice doing a mediocre imitation.

"Shut up. Both of you." Returned a tenor timbre, the words having the desired effect. While Karin was left pouting, and Suigetsu sniggering softly, Uchiha Sasuke returned his obsidian gaze to the small fire sputtering weakly in the air that was being quickly rid of the oxygen it needed by the four human bodies that needed it more. Juugo was clearly uncomfortable, his breathing labored, as his large body had been squeezed into such a small divit in the wall so that he wouldn't be, quite literally, sitting on the fire.

"How much longer will we be here, Sasuke?" Juugo inquired, his earthen gaze shifting to the naturally brooding Uchiha.

"As long as we need to. We'll go in to town tomorrow and see what we can find out about Akatsuki's movements." He explained in monotone, his body language giving no indication that it was merely a suggestion or it was to be taken lightly. It was important; part of his overall goal. Find Akatsuki, and he found his brother. But, Sasuke wasn't as much of an idiot as many thought him to be. He knew he couldn't just go walking into Amegakure, which he'd learned was most definitely Akatsuki's base city. He'd never make it through the first block without being jumped.

No. He had to find his brother, alone if possible, out in the open. But, he was more than likely with that partner of his, Hoshigake Kisame. That one would be a bit of a pain. Once he figured out Akatsuki's pattern, and he'd found Itachi, that was when he'd worry about it. No sooner.

Sasuke soon resigned himself to his thoughts, picturing a world where his brother no longer walked the earth, and he could move on with life.

Like that was going to happen.

* * *

It was raining when Hinome awoke, like always, and she ushered herself up out of bed to dress. It'd been almost a month since she'd first come to Amegakure. The cool air was finally beginning to settle on the industrial town and the rain was slowly mixing itself with sleet. It'd even snowed once. Growing up in Konoha where the climate was primarily unchanging year round except for the slightly lower temperatures around fall and winter, it was very rare to see snow. She'd even stuck her head out the window just to feel them on her skin.

Things had been going smoothly, overall. Kakuzu had left a week or two after her arrival to go collect his partner and finish off the mission together, but not before presenting her with a set of personally tailored Akatsuki cloaks that now hung in her closet. Currently, she'd been using only one for the last few weeks, seeing as she and Deidara hadn't been sent on any missions yet, and she only wore it when venturing from the base, which was exceptionally rare.

Once dressed in a black long sleeve shirt and tightly-fitted stretch pants in the same color, Hinome re-braided her hair and slipped on her boots before exiting her bedroom. According to the small clock she'd bought on her first trip into the city, it was a quarter past seven in the morning, and if she figured correctly her housemates would be asleep for another hour or so.

Hinome wasn't a morning person, per se. She just couldn't sit around in the morning and do nothing after waking up. She had to get up and just… do _something._ She made her way up to the kitchen, deciding not to bother making Deidara anything since she'd heard him come home quite early that morning and didn't figure he'd be up for quite a bit. It's been a begrudging agreement at first, but, she'd agreed to make him a little something for breakfast, but if and only if he made clay birds for her to use as target practice when they got a chance to go up onto the roof.

He grumbled a little about his art receiving such an uneventful downfall, but, then again she grumbled about having to make him food. He could fend for himself.

Hinome looked around as she entered the kitchen, debating what to make. After a moment of standing barefoot in the middle of the kitchen with her arms lightly across her chest as she looked around and recalled what was in the cabinets, she set about making a pot of tea to start off with. It took a little bit of scrounging in the back of the pantry to find a box of tea that wasn't green tea. She picked up the box, shaking it lightly, and at the sound of a few bags of mint tea rattling freely, she smiled a bit and headed back out to prepare the tea.

She set a tea bag into the kettle before turning on the burner and in no time, she'd emptied the tea into a pot, sweetened it with a good amount of honey, and set it on the table before heading back to get a cup. Just as she grasped the porcelain cup, a chill ran up her spine, and in a single fluid movement she spun and sent a single blade flying across the room and imbedding itself in the wall with a dull thud. Once her gaze focused, she frowned softly upon seeing Itachi leaning against the doorframe in his usual attire, dans his cloak and hitai-ate. A rare sight, on top of even seeing him outside of his room.

And now she'd nearly stuck him in the eye, the blade embedded in the frame of the door not but a few centimeters from his right eye socket. But, he was looking over her with a slightly bemused expression despite it. "Not the friendliest greeting I've ever received, but, also not the most demeaning… May I?" he inquired, motioning languidly to the table at which the teapot sat. She seemed to ponder a moment before turning and acquiring another tea cup. That should've been answer enough.

As she sat down on the side of the table with her back to the wall and set her cup down in front of her, Itachi sat at the head of the table and Hinome set the second mug in his place. He set the blade, which he'd apparently pulled from the wall, in front of her in return. Just as she reached for the tea pot to pour their cups, he raised his hand lightly to stop her. "Allow me." Hinome paused a moment before withdrawing her hand before picking up her blade and turning it over in her hand a moment. "Thank you, Itachi-san…" He gave a slight nod, not raising his eyes from the pot as he poured her a cup first, then himself.

Well, he didn't seem angry about her nearly injuring him, and she hadn't even apologized, so, maybe he wasn't as bothered as she figured he would've been. Maybe he'd anticipated that sort of reaction, or considered it in the least. What else could one expect after sneaking up on a shinobi, particularly an Akatsuki, even if it was in their home base?

Hinome wasn't sure exactly what to say. She hadn't been in the same room, more or less alone, with the Uchiha since their second 'friendly' meeting in the library nearly four weeks ago. And now, they were sitting in the kitchen, drinking tea, at 7:30 in the morning after she'd nearly lodged a blade in his cornea. "What are you doing up so early? I didn't think I was that loud coming up here." Hinome said after a moment as she watched small wafts of steam raising from the cup before her, hands instinctually blending the blade back into her palm. "I was already awake. And as your bedroom is beside mine, one would think it difficult not to hear you leave." He explained airily. Hinome could only nod, as any form of apology did not want to seem to come out.

Her eyes traced the wooden grain of the table as she tried to fathom exactly why he'd chosen to come out and sit with her. It was one thing to note that she'd left her bedroom, but entirely another to decide to go and join her, not knowing what she would've gone to do. She hadn't moved in nearly a minute, and Itachi seemed to notice as he set him mug down and turned his attention to her. The gentle clinking of porcelain on wood seemed to bring her back, at which point she picked up her mug and took a sip now that it'd cooled.

Itachi had always taken her to be a deep thinker, but, this was the first time he'd experienced it. Her eyes took on a look of sheer omnipotence, and the slightest pucker formed between her eyebrows. The more he looked at her, the more he began to understand. She always thought about what she was going to say before she said it, and she didn't like having her thoughts interrupted for something trivial. And she also, like himself, didn't like wasting time. The others he interacted with became dull after a while, completely predictable and fitting the mold they'd created in his mind. But she was new; different. He disliked appearing uninformed, and disliked being unprepared even more.

His eyes followed the line of her arms and hands as she lifted the cup to her lips, the overall configuration something else that'd struck him as odd. He'd seen civilian women continue to drink in this fashion in very rural areas in the north-west and far east, though he knew her to be brought up in Konoha.

He'd seen her as a child, something he first realized when he'd gotten a good look at her upon her first day being a member of Akatsuki; there is no way anyone else could have hair of that shade. Of course, he'd only ever seen her when he was passing by their family compound, sometimes sitting on a porch beside a woman, whom he suspected to be her mother, playing a koto; or running around with another girl a few years older with dark hair and eyes, both of them wearing yukata as it was usually summer when they were out and about.

"Hinome, how is it that you ended up here?" He soon inquired, trying to fill in the gap that existed between that one day three long years ago and today. She gave him an odd look, one he placed between confusion and alarm, though she quickly clamed and stared down into her tea.

"I don't think it's any of your business." Hinome said after a pause, boldly lifting her icy eyes to meet his vermillion gaze. She saw briefly that her response caught him off guard, but he quickly schooled his expression into one of indifference. "I see." He replied dryly, seeming to withdraw slightly as he leaned back in his chair.

Hinome glanced up more fully, hiding her slight surprise at the simple action. Having been trained as an ANBU, she had learned a lot about body signals, which were particularly useful if trying to figure out if a situation was tense, etc. But, the Uchiha had always struck her as unmovable, like a large mountain. So, the act of giving her space seemed… unnatural. For him, at any rate. She returned to her tea, not unaware of the fact that he'd been studying her since he'd entered the room.

"Itachi-san, how did _you _end up here?" she then inquired, giving him a look of slight amusement. The corner of his lip twitched a bit. "I don't think it's any of your business." He replied, throwing her own words back at her. "But, I'm sure you already know. After all, what child born in the last decade doesn't?" Itachi mused, taking another sip of his tea. Hinome chuckled faintly, smiling a bit. "Then, I guess that means I've one-upped you, aye?" He regarded her a moment, though a hint of something she couldn't define passed behind his eyes. "I suppose you have." The Uchiha agreed, the both of them looking up when another presence entered the room.

Kisame regarded the two before giving a toothy grin. "Well… Looks like everyone's already up." The man commented, grabbing a bottle of sake from the fridge before sitting across from the female and stretching out a bit. "Geeze. You're one of those tea-in-the-morning ones too? I guess it's a Konoha thing." The Kiri nin joked, giving a toothy grin at Hinome's half-pout half-glare expression. "Yeah, yeah fish boy. At least I my liver is still working normally and I have some sort of taste in beverages." She retorted, eyeing his sake bottle. A few weeks ago, she would not have dared to talk to Hoshigake Kisame in such a manner. But, he seemed to enjoy the banter. Though, he still got a kick out of calling her Kitsune, even though Hinome still couldn't see what was so funny about it.

He merely chuckled, sitting a seat to the left of the one across from her so he could stretch out as per usual. "Itachi, Leader gave me mission details about half an hour ago. Said we should leave sometime this afternoon." The elder man then commented, the addressee regarding him for a moment before nodding. Hinome sank back in her chair a bit. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was becoming more and more restless. One could only spend so long reading the same books, or walking around the base. Even the occasional visit to town wasn't enough to keep her occupied.

She and Kisame spent a good amount of time chatting over small things, though it was more of Kisame talking and herself only contributing a comment every now and again. After feeling a familiar shiver run up her find, she turned to find Deidara stroll into the room not but a few seconds later. Kisame greeted him, Hinome offering a 'Good morning', while Itachi said nothing. And unsurprisingly, Deidara grumbled a greeting in response before tossing a slight glare at Itachi.

"Didn't you make anything yet, hm?" The blonde inquired, realizing for the first time that there wasn't the smell of any sort of food wafting around him. "No. I wasn't hungry." Hinome replied, arching a brow slightly in his direction. "Really? You weren't there for dinner last night." He then pointed out, regarding her closely as she got to her feet and headed to the fridge. "Wasn't hungry." She repeated as she looked through the shelves. "What do you want me to make?" she then inquired, unaware of Deidara's gaze studying her. She didn't seem lightheaded or unstable when she got up. Apparently her body didn't severely object to this sort of diet.

"Surprise me." he said after a moment, moving to sit next to the space she'd vacated so he was across from Kisame. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms across his chest as he watched the young woman work at the stove, throwing together things he wouldn't have considered. But, she'd yet to poison him, plus her food was generally quite delicious, so he might as well trust her. He talked idly with Kisame, Hinome throwing a comment over her shoulder. Particularly when it started to get lecherous. At one point, she even gave Kisame a little whack in the back of the head with a spoon she'd just pulled out of a drawer to stir her bubbling mixture.

Itachi observed the goings-on in the Akatsuki kitchen, slightly caught off guard by the drastic change that'd taken place compared to not but a month ago. They came to the kitchen only to eat, and very rarely socialized. But, with their newest member, that old tradition did a total 180. Well, with the exception of Deidara who wouldn't even look in his direction if not only to glare. But, that was his problem after all. And now, Kisame had someone to tease who wouldn't fly off the handle as Deidara seemed to like to do. Hinome was much more grounded than her partner, and that in itself seemed to have a defusing effect on the blonde as well.

Hinome served her partner breakfast before turning to Kisame. "Do you want something too?" she inquired, arching a brow lightly. "Sure, Kitsune-chan. Just whip me up some eggs." She chuckled faintly before heading back to the stove. She knew well that 'some' was equal to 'a lot'. Hinome got a full carton of eggs from the fridge and after scraping out the frying pan she'd been using for Deidara's breakfast set about making Kisame's eggs.

Itachi observed the scene, finishing his tea before getting to his feet. Deidara watched him warily as he cross behind Kisame, pausing momentarily near Hinome. She turned a bit to look at him over her shoulder, though he spoke too quietly for the blonde to hear. "Thank you for the tea. Perhaps next time we will be able to discuss other things without interruption."

The look she gave him was one of slight confusion, but she merely nodded, her pale gaze flickering over his features as if trying to decipher the meaning of his vague statement. And just like that, he turned and strode from the room. She turned quietly back to preparing her food, Kisame yawning thunderously behind her and making her glare playfully over her shoulder at him. "Hey, if you're going to try to break the sound barrier, do it outside." She teased, beginning to scrape the first helping of scrambled eggs onto a large platter and placing it, alongside a fork, in front of the shark nin. After three servings of scrambled eggs, Hinome finally began washing her pans and spoons.

She glanced over to the doorway to her left, catching sight of Kakuzu as he strode into the room, eyeing her a moment as if to make sure she wasn't wasting anything. Seeming satisfied, he headed to the pantry. At that point, she took notice of the large amount of vocal disturbance coming from the hallway and seeping into the room, and Deidara met her gaze before sighing. "Here we go again." Was all he said before a man with build similar to Kisame's, though proportionally smaller, entered the room, his platinum slicked back close to his skull and his violet eyes blazing as he continued to rant to his partner, despite the latter having disappeared into the back of the pantry.

"I can't believe that fucker said that! Acted like he was the fucking best shinobi to ever walk the…" he finally paused, looking over the female that was giving him a once-over, her face showing plaintive annoyance when they focused on the circumvented triangle hanging in front of his bare chest. "You're Hidan, aren't you?" Hinome inquired as she went back to rinsing the pan before placing it on the rack to dry.

"Yeah. And who the hell are you?" he near demanded. "Shut up Hidan, I told you already. If only you had your head out of your ass long enough to hear." Kakuzu intercepted, returning from the pantry with a cup of instant ramen. "Why should I listen to you? Goddamn old man." The temperamental shinobi retorted. Hinome watched the two bicker, Deidara again catching her gaze and rolling his eyes dramatically while she watched Kisame's shoulders shake as he stifled a series of chuckles. "Anyway, bitch, make me something." The Jashinist demanded, obviously having decided that Hinome was their maid, or servant, or something along those lines.

"Excuse me?" the petite female quipped, giving him a look that clearly implied he was either insane or a complete Neanderthal. "You heard me. I'm hungry." He responded gruffly, eyeing her in a way that dared her to deny him. In response, she finally tilted her head amiably and smiled. "Fuck you."

He seemed baffled for a moment before grinning. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? That's pretty fucking sweet." He commented, only to find himself kicked solidly in the abdomen with enough force to knock him backwards, after which he was pinned securely by blades and wires alone to the opposite wall of the hallway just outside the kitchen. Hinome stood in the doorway, much as Itachi had the morning, with her arms crossed loosely across her chest as she watched the significantly larger man struggle against the wires that only dug deeper into his skin. "Keep struggling. Those wires will sooner cut you into pieces than break." She said simply before turning to the slightly stunned grouping of men in the kitchen. Deidara and Kisame both knew of her use of wires and blades, and they both knew her to be quick, but she rarely acted out like that.

"Gotta teach 'em their place, otherwise they'll never learn." She commented with a shrug, Kakuzu giving her an approving nod. He hadn't seen her fight before, but, the small demonstration was enough to convince him that she wasn't completely useless. Despite Hidan's now bellowed curses and violent thrashing, she seemed completely unfazed and consented when Deidara inquired if she'd like to go up onto the roof and train. As the two disappeared up the staircase beside the pantry, Kisame finally got to his feet and ambled out of the room past a very, very angry Hidan. Kakuzu made his ramen before following after the shark nin, giving his partner a look that only said 'You brought it upon yourself'.

* * *

On the roof, the weather was crisp and just a little chilly, and there was a small amount of snow on the metal that gave the building its waterproof quality. Snow which Hinome couldn't help but walk through just to see her footprints. Reaching the middle she stretched, inhaling deeply before exhaling in a sigh of content and watching the air from her lungs escape in curls of steam. Deidara followed after her, a small smile on his face. She wasn't but a year younger than himself, and yet at times like these, she seemed so much younger than the twenty-one years she was.

She soon turned to face him, smiling slightly. "Just taijustsu for now? No chakra." He nodded in response. "Sounds good, yeah." Her smile faded slightly as she sunk into a crouch, Deidara taking his own fighting stance. She moved first, her tiny body closing the distance quickly and with little effort before swinging a well-aimed kick at the side of his abdomen. Knowing better than to try to stop one of her iron-bending kicks, he leapt quickly out of the way. He learned after dodging an axe kick not but a week earlier, the space where her foot impacted the ground leaving an evident dent in the roof, that if he didn't move he would certainly be injured. Even in sparring, she didn't go easy on anyone.

He countered her initial kick with a roundhouse of his own, though her stature allowed her to evade his swing by ducking underneath and aiming an elbow jab to his stomach, causing him to once again move back just enough to avoid the blow. Their spar went on in this fashion for several minutes, avoid, attack, avoid, attack, until Deidara managed to sweep her feet out from under her by hitting the back of her knees with his shin, though in the act of falling she turned and caught herself on her hands, using the propulsion to swing her leg out and catch the side of his thigh with the front of her boot.

From that point on, they began to land more and more strikes until, quite exhausted, they called it a tie and sat down in the space clear of snow they'd created during their match. They were back to back, using the weight of the other to support themselves, and it wasn't long before they began talking over trivial things, Deidara teasing her by tugging at her braid as, while they were sitting, the end of it brushed against his hand. She had to reach back to tug at his topknot, the two soon engaging in a childish game of hair-pulling. Before long they were laughing and once they had calmed down, the blonde helpied his partner to her feet.

Over the past handful of weeks, this kind of teasing had become almost commonplace between the two. Something between the two had clicked the first few days, something that'd made them rather inseparable. Deidara was like the older brother she'd never had, while Hinome reminded him unavoidably of the younger sister he'd lost a decade ago. Whenever they were alone, they frequently ended up bickering over little things or teasing each other however they could. Needless to say that Deidara was usually the instigator, but Hinome enjoyed playing along just as much as he enjoyed getting her riled up.

Hinome was surprised when she glanced over to see Zetsu in the doorway of his greenhouse. After thinking a moment and giving Deidara one of her easily-readable looks, the two headed over to where the older man stood. "Zetsu, I was wondering if I could go inside the greenhouse an collect a few herbs… for medicinal purposes, of course. I'd like to make an ample stock of antidotes to keep here." She explained, the man regarding her a moment before nodding. "Just stay close."** "You never know what might be… lurking."** Hinome gave him a wry smile, but followed him inside when he proceeded deeper into the mess of vines, leaves, branches and plant-matter. Deidara stayed by the door, keeping watch as Hinome had subliminally asked him to. She obviously didn't trust the plant-like man enough to be alone, so, having Deidara nearby was a reassurance.

Hinome looked around thoughtfully as she was lead deeper, and soon Zetsu inquired as to what she needed. After a moment of thought, she began listing a few off on her fingers. "And do you have any ashitaba? Or hatomugi?" Zetsu smiled after a moment, and though she was almost certain it was supposed to be friendly, it was slightly disturbing. "I do." **"I'll show you."** The man, who proved to be quite helpful, showed her where all the plants were located in his greenhouse, and even gave her a hand in harvesting certain parts of the various herbs she'd inquired about.

In no time, she headed from the greenhouse with an armful of labeled plastic bags, a few of which she handed to Deidara. Calling a thanks over her shoulder, she lead the blonde down into the building. "What kind of antidotes are you making, hm?" he inquired, holding up a bag in front of his face as they walked and after struggling over the technical name, observed the shriveled, root-like bits in the baggie. "All different kinds, hopefully. I studied poisons for a short time, but, I still really need a guide book for most things." Hinome explained as they passed the still struggling, and now infinitely more irate, Hidan without sparing him a second glance. Using the elevator, they soon emerged on the third floor on the building and Hinome lead the way to the medicinal room. About a week ago, she'd cleaned and re-stocked the room using a budget Leader had set up for that specific purpose, so when she turned on the light, the room gleamed with health and vitality. She set the baggies on the counter beside the sink, opening the cabinet above her head and beginning to take down a good number of small glass bottles.

"Thanks Deidara, I can take it from here. I'll see you later, alright?" Hinome said softly, glancing over to him and offering a smile after he set his bags alongside hers. "Have fun, yeah." He teased before heading from the room and leaving the door ajar behind him. She set about the tedious task of transferring, labeling, and corking the various herbs before placing a majority of them back into the cabinet. She left a few out on the counter, bringing down a mortar and pestle and a few more bottles. She set about making a few antidotes for common poisons, corking them in separate bottles and labeling them so she knew what was what. The whole process took several hours, she was sure, because once she returned to the kitchen area, there was the scent of fried fish seeping into the hallway. She noticed that Hidan was no longer stuck to the wall, though the blades and wire were still there, and there was a good amount of blood on the floor. Maybe he did succeed in cutting himself into bits. She sniggered softly, retrieving her blades and sealing them back into her skin before entering the kitchen.

It was an amusing sight, seeing Kisame at the stove. She could almost imagine him in an apron, perhaps with some frills and embroidery. Her seemingly inexplicable laughter caused the shark man to turn and half-grin at her. "Look who's finally returned to the land of the living." He teased, the female smiling a bit. "Look who's finally making his own food." She retorted, soon sitting down beside Tobi at the table. "Kisame-san's making lunch!" Tobi chirped, the female smiling a bit. "If only we could get him to do that every day." "Heh, don't get used to it. Remember, me and Itachi are leaving soon. So, maybe when we get back." He retorted, the female huffing. "I'm about ready to get out of here myself." She finally admitted, resting her chin in her hands.

"Me too, yeah." Deidara agreed, Hinome looking over to find her partner leaning in the doorway. "Can we ask Leader for a mission? I really just want to be anywhere but here." She grumbled, lowering one hand to drum her nails on the table. "I'll try." Deidara said after a moment, giving her braid a tug and smirking before heading back out of the room. In just a few minutes Kisame served them a lunch of tempura over rice, though Hinome declined his offer and instead heading off to her bedroom for a nap.

* * *

She was awakened by a knocking on her door and a flare of charka she recognized as Deidara, and after propping herself up on her elbows she called for him to enter. The blonde stepped inside, leaving the door open as he focused on her. "Leader gave us a mission, yeah. We're leaving soon." He explained though he didn't sound happy, afterwards tossing a small scroll onto her bed. She realized for the first time that he was wearing his cloak as she reached for the scroll and began to read. "I'll be out in a few. Meet you at the door." Hinome responded as she read, feeling Deidara's chakra signature depart.

Their mission would take them to the North, just South of Kaminari, and several miles to the East, nearly to the coast of the continent. It was a small town, but held a high concentration of rogue shinobi and less-than-honest characters. Their target was a man by the name of Hikou, who was reported to be selling information on the Akatsuki to the highest bidder. There was no way to tell what information was sold, of even if the information sold was legitimate, but, they apparently weren't taking any chances. She read further down, soon chuckling faintly when she read their follow-up mission. They were to meet up with Kisame and Itachi in a small town in Tea country, Kikumachi.

"We meet again." Hinome mused, thinking back to her first long-term mission as a jounin. Kikumachi, the town she had spent nearly a year in, adopting the guise of a young maiko. There had to be a reason for Pein choosing to send them, and particularly her, to that specific town. Her previous connection to the people there was no doubt the culprit in that instance. She read further in, learning that their target in this case was a well-known business man named Arashi, and went as far as to detail that Itachi and Kisame were going to be attempting to establish a business connection with him to earn his trust. When the time was right, they'd offer to meet him at a local teahouse to discuss the finer points of their deal, where in fact the final point of their mission would take place; kill Arashi and leave no trace of who was responsible.

The fact was, Arashi had dealt with Akatsuki in the past, and apparently Pein was trying to tie up loose ends. Quietly of course. No use letting their current business partners they were likely in for the same ending. Poor, slimy scumbags. Had no idea what was coming to 'em.

She shook her head softly, re-rolling the scroll and setting in on her bed as she got up to retrieve a decent-sized hip pouch from the shelf overtop the bar from which her clothing hung in the closet. Hinome then spent the next few minutes gathering scrolls she may, or may not, need for the possibly month-long conjoined mission she was about to embark on. After tying her hitai-ate around her neck, she slipped on her Akatsuki cloak. Before doing the snaps from hip to neck, she stuffed a clean cloak into her hip pouch and fastened it to the white belt she'd began wearing loosely around her hips. Convinced that she had everything necessary to complete her mission, she pulled the signature Akatsuki kasa adorned with white cloth strips and a small, horribly-unstealthy bell from beside where she'd had her hip pouch and tucked it under her arm before heading out of the room and sealing it behind her.

The two Akatsuki met up on the ground level, both donning their kasa before leaving the building. As they strode at a leisurely pace down the main street through the highly industrialized city, Hinome turned her attention to her partner. "Do you know exactly where were going?" "Of course, yeah. Excited for your first mission?" The female let out a muted chuckle. "If you count 'no longer being bored' as 'excited', then sure."

Deidara smirked amusedly, leading the way through the labyrinth of streets with familiar ease before pausing a short distance outside of the city. His partner glanced to him in confusion, though she quickly focused on the fact that he'd just pulled his hand from his clay pouch and his fingers were rapidly forming some sort of creature. A small, sleek bird soon dropped from his palm and after a single handseal, the bird grew instantly in a puff of smoke and sunk low to the ground as its wings stretched out in preparation for flight.

"… We're going to fly there?" Hinome inquired, turning to Deidara in slight confusion. "Of course, hm." He responded with a large grin before hopping effortlessly onto the bird and crouching down onto one knee. "Come on, yeah." He encouraged, patting the space behind him. She frowned faintly, making her way over and climbing awkwardly up onto the slightly squishy figure. After kneeling behind him, Deidara grinned slightly and looked back to her before resting a hand on top of his kasa. "Hang on, yeah."

Without any further warning, the bird shifted backwards slightly before shooting up into the air. One of her hands shot up to hold her kasa in place as the sudden movement threatened to pull it off while her other tightly gripped the back of her partner's cloak. She could've sworn she heard him laughing as he reached back with one hand and gripped her sleeve. "Don't worry, you won't fall. I promise, yeah." He soon called over his shoulder, the wind blowing aside the cloth strips of his kasa and his forelock to reveal the scope she'd only seen once before; the day he came to show her around the base.

Hinome half pouted, half huffed before looking around as their ride leveled out, releasing the one-handed death grip she had on his cloak. One you got used to the unsettling height, it was actually pretty cool being up so high. Her pale eyes scanned the area; noting thick patches of forest and swamp, the immense amounts of rain even allowing the land to be swept away in some parts and leave nothing but muddy fields or lakes. Deidara glanced back at her, managing a faint smile. Sometimes, she reminded him so much of his sister it made his heart ache. The bright eyes, the rare, brilliant smiles, and just her general temperament; quiet and subdued, but with a fiery devotion. It took him a little to notice that she'd turned to look at him, seeming concerned.

"Deidara? Are you alright?" she inquired, the blonde's gaze soon refocusing. "I'm fine, yeah. Just a little tired." He lied, turning back so he was facing the direction they were traveling. She frowned softly, soon returning her gaze to the countryside as they flew over, one hand continuing to rest upon her kasa to keep it in place. He definitely wasn't 'fine', but, she wasn't going to push it. She knew how guys could be. If there's something wrong, they wouldn't tell you, not even under pain of death. After sighing faintly, she sat down with her back resting against Deidara's, his body easily blocking the wind threatening to remove her kasa and allowing her to cross her arms lightly across her chest as she yawned.

She felt his back rumble as he chuckled, turning to peer down at her. "I guess you're tired too, yeah." He teased, Hinome smirking faintly before reaching up to tap his shoulder blade with the back of her knuckles. He smirk softened into a small smile as he turned his gaze back to their path of travel. He could just as easily keep her awake so he had someone to talk to, but, he really couldn't bring himself to do it.

'_What're you doing to me, hm?'_ he thought with slight amusement, his smile broadening just slightly. Somehow he had a feeling that whatever she _was _doing, it wasn't entirely bad.

* * *

A/N: Here it is! It was really nice to see this story continuing to be favorited and watched, despite it not having been updated for a bit. I apologize for taking my time finishing this chapter, not to mention that school and the holidays had my hands pretty well tied. But, I'm hoping to crank out another chapter before the break's over to make up for it. Wish me luck!


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